Provenance of late Pleistocene loess in central and eastern Europe: isotopic evidence for dominant local sediment sources

Fenn, Kaja ORCID: 0000-0002-6322-0540, Millar, Ian, Bird, Anna, Veres, Daniel and Wagner, Doris (2025) Provenance of late Pleistocene loess in central and eastern Europe: isotopic evidence for dominant local sediment sources Scientific Reports, 15 (1). 1624-. ISSN 2045-2322, 2045-2322

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Abstract

Loess profiles along the Danube River provide a record of long-term Quaternary dust (loess) deposition in central-eastern Europe. Here, Sr–Nd isotopic data from 47 samples (four profiles) from loess–palaeosol deposits spanning the last two-glacial-interglacial cycles are presented. The isotopic compositions generated by this study are compared with bedrock and sedimentary samples from Europe and North Africa to decipher the sources of sediment. The results demonstrate that over the last 300 ka the alluvial plains of the Danube (which are themselves sourced from surrounding mountain belts) are a local source of material and consequently sediment experiences aeolian transport over relatively short distances. The results dispute the commonly held assumption that the Sahara was a sediment contributor to loess in central-eastern Europe as North African contributions are not needed to explain loess signatures. Consequently, the findings suggest a suppressed southerly wind direction and dominance of the westerly and north-westerly wind systems over the entirety of the record.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	37 Earth Sciences, 3709 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience, 3705 Geology
Divisions:	Faculty of Science & Engineering Faculty of Science & Engineering > School of Environmental Sciences
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	07 Jan 2025 11:13
Last Modified:	28 Feb 2026 18:29
DOI:	10.1038/s41598-024-83698-5
Related Websites:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3189459
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