Environmental change indicated by a site-specific grain size ratio - the example of the Semlac loess-paleosol sequence (Romania)

Abstract

Loess sequences provide important and at least a partial continuous record of Quaternary palaeoenvironmental change. In addition, loess-palaeosol sequences provide valuable information concerning environmental change and climate evolution. It is customary to reconstruct such changes by means of grain sizes ratios. In this study, we calculated an site-specific grain size (GS) ratio (Schulte et al. in review) and compare this ratio with the common U-ratio (Vandenberghe et al.1985) and, in addition, with selected geochemical parameters. As an example we present the Middle to Late Pleistocene loess-paleosol section of Semlac in western Romania (MIS 10 – 1)