Results of Radiocarbon Analysis of Upper Weichselian Loess Sequences from Hungary

Abstract

Approximately 10% of Hungary is covered by dust sequences of the Quaternary period. Samples have been taken from more than 50 outcrops and boreholes during fieldwork in the past 20 yr. Some 81 bulk samples taken from 27 profiles of the Hungarian loess regions have been analyzed for radiocarbon. Based on the 14C results, loess layers that accumulated between 33,000 and 12,000 BP were selected for further investigation. The sedimentation rates of the 27 loess profiles suggest periods of slow and quick dust accumulation in the Carpathian Basin during the Upper Weichselian period. It seems to us that some soil development and intense weathering periods interrupted the loess development during the Upper Weichselian in Hungary. According to the 14C dates, the estimated average rate of sedimentation was 0.31 mm/yr in both the northern and southern parts of the Carpathian Basin between 33,000 and 12,000 BP.