Aeolian dynamics during the last deglaciation at the northern edge of Banat Sand, Vojvodina, Serbia

Abstract

Banat (Deliblato) Sand is one of the largest and the most unexplored areas with dominant aeolian sand sediments in Europe. Close to Iron Gate, Danube accumulated a vast amount of sediment in its alluvial plain and mostly SE wind (Košava) distributed material in the NW direction, forming the thickest aeolian sand sediments in Serbia. At the northern edge of Banat Sand, a high-resolution archive, represented by an approximately 20 m thick dune is located.

This is the first multidisciplinary study of an aeolian dune in Serbia. Based on detailed optically stimulated luminescence chronology we calculated the sedimentation rates, which are extremely high for this region. The sand was accumulated before 13 ky to 17 ky, which represents the transition from the last glacial to Holocene. The magnetic susceptibility and colourimetric analysis were performed and interpreted in terms of local palaeoenviromental conditions. In contrast to much more explored loess sediments in this region, sedimentation rates are significantly higher, which allows much higher resolution of reconstructing palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental conditions. Considering this as one of the first detailed studies of sand in this region, comparation to other sand archives is limited.