A joined rock magnetic and colorimetric perspective on the Late Pleistocene climate of Orlovat loess site (Northern Serbia)

This study represents the first detailed joined colorimetric and rock magnetic investigation on a loess–paleosol sequence in the Vojvodina region, Northern Serbia. The aim of this paper is to derive new information on the Late Pleistocene paleoenvironment from a high resolution multi-proxy assessment of the iron mineralogical composition at the Orlovat loess paleosol sequence. The Orlovat section is the first site from the Banat loess region analyzed for Quaternary paleoclimate information, and accordingly it is the easternmost loess section in the Serbian loess region studied. In contrast to other Serbian sites, the Orlovat site is not located in a plateau. Rock magnetic analysis and the luminescence-dating based chronology revealed active slope processes at this site during the Late Pleistocene. This is the most strikingly evidenced by the absence of a Middle Wurmian (MIS 3) interstadial pedocomplex, present as marker horizon in the Serbian plateau-loess sites. Nevertheless, important stratigraphic units and distinct pattern of the proxy records can be correlated to other key sites of the Vojvodina loess region. Hence, this section provides an opportunity to reconstruct local as well as regional environmental and climatic conditions during the Late Pleistocene. The applied multiproxy approach especially allowed valuable insight in the environmental conditions that prevailed during formation of the last interglacial pedocomplex. Accordingly, in the Eemian pronounced summer dryness prevailed. During the formation of the Eemian soil, the dry period was warmer and lasted longer or was characterized by less precipitation as during formation of the modern soil. Although the soil moisture deficit in the Eemian summers was most likely higher, the rainfall was more pronounced in the period of from spring to early summer/and or autumn as during the Holocene. These findings support previous observations from the Batajnica site, a key site of the Vojvodina loess region, and highlight the Eemian as potential past analogue to future climate warming in Serbia. This study points out the potential of a joined colorimetric or spectrometric analyses and rock magnetic analyses in paleoenvironmental investigations on loess paleosol sequences.