Paleoenvironmental implications of a loess profile in S-Transdanubia, Hungary

Abstract

Investigations of loess profiles have started recently in the N and S forelands of the Villany Hills and in the Mecsek Mountains. Detailed laboratory analyses are expected to provide new information on Pleistocene geomorphic evolution and on the nature of paleosols formed on ancient surfaces. The horizontal distribution of paleosols found in the loess profiles of the N foreland indicate that the erosionally remodelled dry valleys of N to S alignment developed as early as the second half of the Pleistocene. The reddish lint in the paleosols of the loess sequence overlying the lapiés surfaces of the limestone mass of the Mecsek seem to show that products of limestone weathering were also involved in soil formation. In the intermountain area well-developed and deep paleosols of medium brown colour are characteristic. The underlying loess of horizontal micro-stratification proves the reworked nature of paleosol horizons.