Detailed luminescence dating of dust mass accumulation rates over the last two glacial-interglacial cycles from the Irig loess-palaeosol sequence, Carpathian Basin

Mineral dust records distant from dust sources are crucial in establishing wider atmospheric dust loads in the past. However, detailed, independent chronologies for loess-palaeosol sequences distant from local dust sources are still rare in Europe. In this study we present a high-resolution OSL and pIRIR290 chronology and multi-proxy investigation of the Irig loess-palaeosol sequence (LPS), Vojvodina, Serbia. Our results show that 4–11 μm quartz is a reliable dosimeter only up to ~59 ka (179 Gy), after which the OSL ages underestimate the expected ages based on stratigraphy. The pIRIR290 signal displays generally good luminescence behaviour and resultant ages show good agreement with the expected stratigraphic ages, although with apparent 15 kyr and 35 kyr age underestimations at the L2-S2 and S2-L3 boundaries, respectively. The calculated dust mass accumulation rates (MAR) reveal large fluctuations during the last two glacial-interglacial cycles. During the penultimate glacial, the highest MARs were observed between 171 and 181 ka, subsequently decreasing rapidly during MIS 5. During the last glacial period, dust MARs display maximum values during MIS 2 and MIS 4, while the lowest dust input was observed during the Holocene, followed by MIS 3. Dust MAR and grain-size shifts appear to lead changes in magnetic susceptibility by several kyr. Our results imply that changes in dust availability and wind dynamics occurred prior to changes in climate-controlled soil moisture conditions at the Irig LPS. Moreover, our results reveal a close coupling of the dust MAR and grain-size variations during the Mid-Late Pleistocene. These patterns suggest that the Irig site is likely representative of regional dust dynamics, which separates it from more source proximal loess sites, such as those close to major rivers, which are likely more affected by local dust availability and river discharge