The East Carpathian loess record: a reference for the middle and late pleniglacial stratigraphy in Central Europe

The East Carpathian regional sequence established for the middle and late pleniglacial loess is based on records from the Palaeolithic sites Molodova V (Ukraine), Mitoc-Malu Galben (Romania) and Cosautsi (Moldova). The special importance of this long sequence lies 1) in the high quality of the pedosedimentary and climatic records favoured by the position of the three sites within the terrace system of the Dniester and Prut basins and 2) in the high chronological resolution within the period posterior to 33,000 BP determined by the archaeological context of the multilayered Palaeolithic sites. A large number of these layers with a quite regular distribution within the sequence appeared to be rich in good quality organic material for accurate radiometric dating. This made possible to establish a well documented pedosedimentary and climatic succession encompassing the main part of the middle pleniglacial and almost the whole upper pleniglacial, with a resolution degree around one millennium or several centuries. The analysis of this new sequence revealed a quite coherent internal structure that illustrates the complexity of the sedimentary and climatic dynamics within the time span 33,000 -10,000 BP.