Loess/palaeosol section in Sarengrad, Croatia e A qualitative discussion on the correlation of the geochemical and magnetic susceptibility data L. Galovi c a, * , M. Frechen b , Z. Peh a , G. Durn c , J. Halami c a a Croatian Geological Survey, Sachsova 2, 10001 Zagreb, Croatia b Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics (LIAG), Geochronology and Isotope Hydrology, Stilleweg 2, 30655 Hannover, Germany c Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum Engineering, Pierottijeva 6, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia article info Article history: Available online 19 February 2011 abstract The Sarengrad loess section is located on the south bank of the Danube River in the easternmost part of Croatia. The published lithostratigraphical results including grain size, total organic content, calcium carbonate content and luminescence dating results are complemented by geochemical (content of major and trace elements and acidity) and magnetic susceptibility (k) studies. Throughout the section, four palaeosols are intercalated in the loess. The oldest, hydromorphic one is covered by laminated alluvial sediments and loess. The second palaeosol is an argillic dark brown soil with the highest k value of the profile, and the other two palaeosols are brownish and less developed. Geochemical characteristics and MS signals of the palae- osols explain both the main characteristics and degree of pedogenesis. Palaeosol horizons could be clearly distinguished from loess based on the content of major and trace elements and on weathering coefficients, such as Ba/Sr, and (CaO þ Na 2 O þ MgO þ K 2 O)/Al 2 O 3 . IRSL age estimates of 86.6 8.6 and 55.3 5.5 ka indicate that most of the middle and upper pleniglacial loess record is missing at the Sarengrad section. However, the loess/palaeosol sequence at Sarengrad has a very detailed record correlating with MIS 4e5. Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Quaternary alluvial, marshy and lake sediments are widespread in eastern Croatia. They are mostly overlain by aeolian-derived sediments, e.g. loess formed during the cold periods of the Pleisto- cene. Some palaeosols, which formed during more humid and warmer periods of the Pleistocene, are intercalated in the loess. In the study area, exposures of loess sections are caused by two main processes: neotectonic elevation of Bansko brdo (Hecimovic, 1991) and river erosion of loess sediments, forming steep cliffs along the Danube River. These loess successions are excellent archives of environmental and climate change for the Middle and Late Pleisto- cene. Loess research extends back in Croatia to the beginning of the 20th century. The famous “Gorjanovic Profile” situated on the west of the Danube River has been extensively investigated for about 100 years by means of mineralogical, paleontological, chro- nological, geomorphological, pedological and climatological studies (Gorjanovic-Kramberger, 1912; Bronger, 1976, 2003; Rukavina, 1983; Galovic and Mutic, 1984; Poje, 1985, 1986; Singhvi et al., 1989; Mutic, 1990). Similar investigations were carried out for the loessepalaeosol sequences from Erdut, Sarengrad and the Bansko brdo Hill (Bronger, 1976, 2003; Ciculic-Trifunovic and Galovic,1983a,b; Poje,1985,1986; Velic et al., 1985; Pikija and Sikic,1991; Pikija et al.,1995; Bacani et al., 1999). According to Bronger (1976, 2003), at least six palaeosols are intercalated in the loess sections from Eastern Croatia, spanning the time period of the Middle and Upper Pleistocene (Galovic et al., 2009). The later geochemical and geochronological investigations in Croatia were directed to the Island of Susak, North Adriatic Sea, but the source area of the loess is the Po river system (Mikulcic Pavlakovic et al., 2011; Wacha et al., 2011, in press). The scope of this work is to investigate the geochemical composition and the magnetic susceptibility (MS) record in order to correlate these parameters with the sedimentological data of the Upper Pleistocene loess/palaeosol sediment succession. Sedimen- tological (granulometric coefficients), geochemical content of major and trace elements and acidity (pH) and geophysical analysis (magnetic susceptibility), accompanied with previously published data on IRSL dating, grain-size distribution, organic carbon content (TOC), CaCO 3 content and sedimentological characteristics of the Sarengrad section (Galovic et al., 2009) highlighted the main char- acteristics of palaeosols and degree of their pedogenesis. Based on these results, another aim of this study is to provide a sedimento- logical/pedological base for these excellent archives of environ- mental and climate change in Croatia during Late Pleistocene period. Although significant hiatuses were found (Galovic et al., 2009), this * Corresponding author. Fax: þ385 1 6144718. E-mail addresses: lidija.galovic@hgi-cgs.hr (L. Galovic), manfred.frechen@liag- hannover.de (M. Frechen), zpeh@hgi-cgs.hr (Z. Peh), gdurn@rgn.hr (G. Durn), jhalamic@hgi-cgs.hr (J. Halamic). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Quaternary International journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/quaint 1040-6182/$ e see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2011.02.003 Quaternary International 240 (2011) 22e34