Fenn K, Millar I L, Bird A, Veres D, Wagner Doris
Department of Geography and Planning, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZT, UK.
Geochronology and Tracers Facility, British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, NG12 5GG, UK.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jan 10;15(1):1624. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-83698-5.
Loess profiles along the Danube River provide a record of long-term Quaternary dust (loess) deposition in central-eastern Europe. Here, Sr-Nd isotopic data from four loess-palaeosol profiles (47 samples) spanning the last two-glacial-interglacial cycles are presented. The isotopic compositions generated by this study are compared with bedrock and sedimentary samples from Europe and North Africa to decipher the sources of sediment. The results demonstrate that over the last 300 ka the alluvial plains of the Danube (which are themselves sourced from surrounding mountain belts) are a local source of material and consequently sediment experiences aeolian transport over relatively short distances. The results dispute the commonly held assumption that the Sahara was a sediment contributor to loess in central-eastern Europe as North African contributions are not needed to explain loess signatures. Consequently, the findings suggest a suppressed southerly wind direction and dominance of the westerly and north-westerly wind systems over the entirety of the record.
多瑙河沿岸的黄土剖面记录了中东欧第四纪长期的沙尘（黄土）沉积情况。本文展示了来自四个跨越末次两次冰期-间冰期旋回的黄土-古土壤剖面（47个样本）的锶-钕同位素数据。本研究生成的同位素组成与欧洲和北非的基岩及沉积样本进行了比较，以解读沉积物的来源。结果表明，在过去30万年里，多瑙河的冲积平原（其本身源自周边山区）是物质的本地来源，因此沉积物经历的风成搬运距离相对较短。这些结果对普遍认为撒哈拉是中东欧黄土沉积物贡献源的假设提出了质疑，因为不需要北非的贡献来解释黄土特征。因此，研究结果表明在整个记录期间南风方向受到抑制，西风和西北风系统占主导地位。
