Late Pleistocene and Holocene aeolian activity in the Deliblato Sands, Serbia

Abstract

The Deliblato Sands is among the largest uniform dune fields of Europe, with a very pronounced topography reflecting extensive past aeolian events. Although lacking numerical age data, previous researchers have hypothesized various periods of dune formation. Our research goals were to map the main morphological units of the Deliblato Sands, and to provide the first optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages for the major dune types. Mapping was carried out using digital elevation models, satellite images, and GPS profiles. Dune development was investigated using OSL. Several tests were performed concerning thermal treatment, signal characteristics, dose recovery, and dose distributions to assess the suitability of sediments for luminescence dating. Based on our results, two dune generations could be identified that differed in morphology and age. Older dune forms are primarily low sand-supply, hairpin-like parabolic dunes that developed from the last glacial maximum until the end of the early Holocene, then became stabilized. Younger, superimposed parabolic dunes record an intensive aeolian signal from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The history of the Deliblato Sands fits with those from other European sand dune areas, and provides further details to understand paleoenvironmental changes in the region.

The Dunes of Belvedere–San Marco of Aquileia: Integrating High-Resolution Digital Terrain Models and Multispectral Images with Ground-Penetrating Radar Survey to Map the Largest System of Continental Dunes of Northern Italy

“…These are wind erosion landforms, formed by winds carving over 100 m deep corridors in the Upper Mioce bedrock [14]. Interesting examples of large dune fields are present in the area of Nyírs in Eastern Hungary [15], and the Deliblato area, in the Vojvodina Plain of Serbia [16]. Bo these fields have a Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene age, and the ridges display a typi [17], the Transdanubian area [14], Deliblato [16], Walachia [77] and Este [18].…”

“…Interesting examples of large dune fields are present in the area of Nyírs in Eastern Hungary [15], and the Deliblato area, in the Vojvodina Plain of Serbia [16]. Bo these fields have a Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene age, and the ridges display a typi [17], the Transdanubian area [14], Deliblato [16], Walachia [77] and Este [18]. The basemap is hillshade, derived from SRTM data [8].…”

“…The so-called "Northern European Sand Belt" characterizes large portions between Great Britain and Russia, where Pleistocene aeolian dunes are well documented in the lowlands, as in the Rhine-Meuse Delta [11][12][13]. In Central Europe, abundant aeolian landforms and deposits are found in Hungary, Serbia, the Czech Republic and Romania [14][15][16][17].…”

“…Figure 17. Comparison with wind directions (orange arrows) of the aeolian landforms between Central Europe and the northern Adriatic in Moravia[17], the Transdanubian area[14], Deliblato[16], Walachia[77] and Este[18]. The basemap is hillshade, derived from SRTM data[8].…”

Ecophysiological and Growth-Related Traits of Two Geophytes Three Years after the Fire Event in Grassland Steppe

“…This is a unique geomorphologic sand dune formation dominantly consisting of mixed forests (80%) and steppe (14%) surrounded by an area of cultivated grasslands. Because of its large, fixed dunes, which were bare until the early twentieth century and formed a desert-like landscape and a semiarid continental climate, the area is known as the “Desert of Europe” or the “European Sahara.” According to geomorphic observations, the sands were either deposited by the Danube River during Pleistocene climatic oscillations or were blown by košava following fluvial deposition and loess formation in the Holocene [ 6 ]. Specific microclimatic conditions, relief, sandy soils, the absence of surface watercourses, and vegetation composition all contribute to this area being extremely fire-prone, with severe fires occurring several times from the 1950s onward [ 7 ].…”