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A record of Late Pleistocene environmental conditions at the transition from central to southern Europe from the Baix loess paleosol sequence (Rhône Rift Valley, SE France)

Loess-paleosol sequences (LPSs) provide valuable archives of Quaternary paleoenvironments. Here we present new data from the Baix LPS, comprising the entire Late Pleistocene. The Baix LPS is located at the western edge of the Rhône Rift Valley, France, in the transition zone from the presently temp...

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Main Authors: Pfaffner, Nora (Author) , Kadereit, Annette (Author) , Kreutzer, Sebastian (Author) , Kolb, Thomas (Author) , Varychev, Alexander (Author) , Cionoiu, Sebastian (Author) , Wang, Tianhao (Author) , Bertran, Pascal (Author) , Bosq, Mathieu (Author) , Hatté, Christine (Author) , Sauer, Daniela (Author)
Format: Article (Journal)
Language:English
Published: 23 January 2026
In: Quaternary research
Year: 2026, Pages: 1-20
ISSN:1096-0287
DOI:10.1017/qua.2025.10053
Online Access:Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1017/qua.2025.10053
Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/quaternary-research/article/record-of-late-pleistocene-environmental-conditions-at-the-transition-from-central-to-southern-europe-from-the-baix-loess-paleosol-sequence-rhone-rift-valley-se-france/220A99AF18FC5E2DFE3345E2AD67D74E
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Author Notes:Nora Pfaffner, Annette Kadereit, Sebastian Kreutzer, Thomas Kolb, Alexander Varychev, Sebastian Cionoiu, Tianhao Wang, Pascal Bertran, Mathieu Bosq, Christine Hatté and Daniela Sauer
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Summary:Loess-paleosol sequences (LPSs) provide valuable archives of Quaternary paleoenvironments. Here we present new data from the Baix LPS, comprising the entire Late Pleistocene. The Baix LPS is located at the western edge of the Rhône Rift Valley, France, in the transition zone from the presently temperate to the Mediterranean region of Europe. This LPS provides a missing link between the analyzed LPSs in the presently temperate regions farther north and those in the Mediterranean region. Reddish Btg horizons of a Stagnic Luvisol at the base of the Baix LPS represent the remains of an MIS 5 pedocomplex formed under warm and, at least temporarily, relatively moist conditions. Two brown Bw horizons of truncated Cambisols have been preserved in the overlying MIS 5a/4 to MIS 3 deposits. The upper Bw horizon is associated with large carbonate nodules, indicating that considerable amounts of calcium carbonate were leached from a former MIS 3 Cambisol and accumulated in the underlying loess unit. This truncated MIS 3 Cambisol is very similar to the MIS 3 paleosol remains in the LPS Collias that we investigated 87 km farther south in the present Mediterranean climate. No paleosols were observed in the late MIS 2 deposits.
Item Description:Gesehen am 04.02.2026
Physical Description:Online Resource
ISSN:1096-0287
DOI:10.1017/qua.2025.10053

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