Đurđevac Sands and the intraformational paleosoils (Podravina, N Croatia) are newly dated to Late Pleistocene/Holocene

Abstract

: The Đurđevac Sands refer to an extensive sandy region south of the Drava River in northern Croatia, where it builds distinctive aeolian dunes. To date, their chronostratigraphical position has been based on stratigraphical inferences (superposition) without numerical and absolute age control. The recent discovery of a buried double paleosoil below and above aeolian dune sands in an abandoned sandpit (Draganci) have allowed the determination of the first absolute dates of the Đurđevac Sands. Field observations and laboratory analyses indicate that the degree of pedogenetic development of these paleosoils is very low. They appear to belong to the arenosol soil type, which is also the dominant recent soil type in the area. 14 C analysis of charcoal from the paleosoils indicated their development during the Bølling–Allerød interstadial, approximately between 14.7 ka and 12.9 ka, as opposed to previous claims that they would be exclusively Holocene in age. Therefore, this shows the need for a detailed investigation of the Đurđevac Sands. The sands and paleosoils likely witnessed a series of alternating phases of landscape stability and instability during the Late Glacial and Holocene. Such episodes are known to have occurred in other sandy regions of the Carpathian basin as well.