Constraining the Age of Floodplain Levels Along the Lower Section of River Tisza, Hungary

Abstract

During the Late Pelistocene-Holocene transition the fluvial landscape of the Great Hungarian Plain changed considerably as a consequence of tectonic, climatic and geomorphological factors. Geochronology, and especially luminescence dating, is a very important tool in reconstructing these changes. The present study focuses on the Lower-Tisza region and addresses the timing of the development of different floodplain levels. In the meantime the luminescence characteristics of the investigated alluvial sediments were also assessed, with a special emphasis on the comparison of silty fine grain and sandy coarse grain results, as in the given medium and low energy environment fine grain sediments are more abundant, however, based on the literature, coarse grain samples are more reliable in terms of luminescence dating. Measurements were performed on 12 samples originating from the point bars of two large palaeo-meanders, representing different floodplain levels along the river. Results indicate the applicability of both grain size fractions for dating purposes, though fine grain subsamples overestimate in average by 1.5 ka the ages yielded by coarse grain subsamples. Consequently, fine grain samples can be used for outlining only general trends, and resul ts need to be controlled by coarse grain measurements where possible. Based on the ages received, the upper floodplain was actively formed until 13-15 ka, when incision and the development of an intermediate floodplain level started. The meander on the intermediate flood plain level developed then very actively until 9 ka. As indicated by the received age information the intensity of meander formation could be highly affected by climatic and especially vegetation control. However, reconstruction can be refi ned later by further sampling and the application of the results of the present paper.

Variation of OSL residual doses in terms of coarse and fine grain modern sediments along the Hungarian section of the Danube

“…In larger river systems, the degree of resetting may significantly vary, both in space and according to the sediment type (Sipos et al, 2016), therefore the analysis of longer sections and different grain sizes is desirable. Stokes et al (2001) investigated the bedload of the Loire River along its entire 1000 km length.…”

The Potential Use of Osl Properties of Quartz in Investigating Fluvial Processes on the Catchment of River Mureş, Romania

“…Laboratory processing of the collected samples followed general laboratory techniques (Mauz et al, 2002;Sipos et al, 2016). After removing the light exposed outer layer in the dark laboratory the samples were dried.…”

“…This often occurs, since turbulence, together with water depth attenuate the intensity of sunlight reaching the grains and thus lead to reduced bleaching (Gemmell, 1988;Berger, 1990;Rendell et al, 1994). Although residuals can adversely affect the accuracy of the dating procedure and usually lead to age overestimation, they can also be applied to investigate the sedimentary dynamics and erosional capacity of river channels (Fiebig and Preusser, 2007;Sipos et al, 2016;Tóth et al, 2017), as far as high residuals indicate the proximity of the sediment source.…”

Temporal Relationship of Increased Palaeodischarges and Late Glacial Deglaciation Phases on the Catchment of River Maros/Mureş, Central Europe

“…The preparation of the collected OSL samples has followed usual laboratory techniques (Mauz et al, 2002;Sipos et al, 2016). First a 1 cm thick layer was removed from each end of the sampling cylinders.…”