First report on dendrochronological and radiocarbon studies of subfossil driftwood recovered across the Mureş/Maros Alluvial Fan

Abstract

Visiting three gravel pits and three natural outcrops across the Mureş/Maros Alluvial Fan, 58 samples were collected from subfossil driftwood recovered from coarse-grained fluvial sediment layers, while no subfossil wood was found at three additional gravel pits. Dendrochronological and radiocarbon analysis of these relict wood can support the temporal extension of the regional dendrochronological reference datasets and their dating can provide a useful contribution to the reconstruction of the landscape evolution of the Mureş/Maros Alluvial Fan. The tree-ring widths of the subfossil samples were measured. Dendrochronological synchronization resulted in two oak chronologies which encompassed five, and two reliably cross-dated series covering 191 years (MURchr1) and 127 years (MURchr2), respectively. Based on the 14C ages the subfossil driftwood material represents Middle and Late Holocene ages. The occasionally up to 6 m-thick fluvial sediment covering relatively young, < 1000-yr-old wood, indicates intense accumulation at the apex of the Mureş/Maros Alluvial Fan, which explains the documented rapid and significant Holocene avulsions.