New results concerning the pedo‐ and chronostratigraphy of the loess–palaeosol sequence Attenfeld (Bavaria, Germany) derived from a multi‐methodological approach

Abstract

Loess-palaeosol sequences (LPS) represent important records of palaeoenvironmental dynamics throughout the Quaternary. During the Pleistocene's dry and cold phases, the Danube's riverbed was one of the major sources for loess sediments that built up LPS in southern Germany and southeastern Europe. Surprisingly, studies addressing Bavarian LPS along the Danube River often lack actuality. The Attenfeld site was one of them and is often cited as a typical LPS. Nevertheless, the site's previous interpretations are based on a few empirical data and field observations. Considering the site's closeness to the sediment's source area, the Alps, and the region's importance in Middle and Upper Palaeolithic migrational movements, those former renditions needed an evaluation. Therefore, we applied a multi-proxy approach (including analyses of grain-size distribution, element composition, and sediment colour attributes) combined with optically stimulated luminescence. Based on our findings, we conclude that the Attenfeld site's former interpretations might be too generalised. We identified units that were not mentioned by previous studies (e.g. Early Glacial dark greyish horizon). Field observations, sediment characteristics, and age estimates indicate sediment deposition of the dated units partly before MIS 4, which contrasts with previous interpretations. The results further demonstrate how sensitive LPS are to environmental settings and dynamics.

The past in dust: current trends and future directions in Pleistocene geoarcheology of European loess

“…Krauss et al . (2021) interpret the color together with further geochemical data as a weathering proxy at the Attenfeld loess–paleosol sequence. Color data can be also analyzed statistically, as, for example, done at the Malá nad Hronom loess–paleosol sequence (Slovak Republic).…”

“…The articles are organized roughly from north‐western to south‐eastern Europe, starting with a detailed investigation of Middle Pleistocene loess–paleosol deposits in northern France (Antoine et al ., 2021), followed by a study about the impact of katabatic winds on the Neanderthal environment (Lefort et al ., 2021), and several studies concentrating on Upper Paleolithic sites (Moine et al ., 2021; Molnar et al ., 2021; Sümegi et al ., 2021; Valde‐Nowak and Łanczont, 2021). Finally, we present studies dealing with methodological investigations and paleoenvironmental focus in several loess–paleosol sequences and one lacustrine record in central and south‐eastern Europe (Krauss et al ., 2021; Ludwig et al ., 2021; Marković et al ., 2021a; Zeeden et al ., 2021).…”

Pleniglacial dynamics in an oceanic central European loess landscape

“…As the geomorphological setting is crucial not only for dust accumulation but also for preservation of LPSs especially (Lehmkuhl et al, 2016;Antoine et al, 2016;Marković et al, 2018), the favourable position of SID in a channel incised into an old Meuse River terrace led to a relatively thick accumulation of most likely Middle but especially Upper Pleniglacial sediments. Although LPSs in other extraordinary geomorphological situations such as loess dunes, socalled gredas (Antoine et al, 2001(Antoine et al, , 2009, or near watersheds (Henze, 1998;Zens et al, 2018) allow even thicker Pleniglacial loess deposits, the UPG record of SID exceeds those of many other regions in adjacent areas (Krauß et al, 2021;Antoine et al, 2016;Rahimzadeh et al, 2021;Krauß et al, 2016). Unit IV preserved 1 m of unaltered loess.…”

Early–Middle Pleistocene Magnetostratigraphic and Rock Magnetic Records of the Dolynske Section (Lower Danube, Ukraine) and Their Application to the Correlation of Loess–Palaeosol Sequences in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe

“…There has been significant focus on the implementation of new research methods within a multidisciplinary approach to search for new complete sections within the terrestrial archives, and to analyse the factors that have caused palaeoenvironmetal changes [100][101][102][103][104][105][106][107][108][109][110][111][112][113][114][115][116][117][118][119].…”