Pedology and mineralogy of loess profiles at Kapela-Batajnica and Stalać, Serbia

Profiles with multiple paleosols developed in loess at Kapela-Batajnica and Stalać were studied by chemical, physical and mineralogical methods to determine paleoclimatic changes through the Pleistocene. The cyclic nature of sedimentary and pedogenetic processes is indicated by the CaCO3 content and silt and clay mineralogy. Stalać is 200 km south of Kapela-Batajnica, and differences between individual paleosols at the two sites are attributed to local differences in soil parent material composition, weathering intensity or erosion of the paleosols. The profile at Stalać provides an important link between typical Middle European and SE European loess–paleosol sequences, and indicates the relative influences of the Mediterranean and continental climates. Statistical analysis of values for the hydrolytic alteration index of Thorez and other mineral ratios calculated at 0.5-m vertical intervals suggests a steady decrease in interglacial weathering rates since the Günz/Mindel (pedocomplexes F8 and F9) and a gradual change from warm humid to temperate dry conditions. The climatic curve for the Kapela-Batajnica sequence suggests continental conditions and correlates well with the NW European climatic curve up to the Günz/Mindel Interglacial (pedocomplex F8). The curve for the lower part of the Stalać sequence shows a stronger Mediterranean influence and correlates well with the curve for Greece, but the upper part of the Stalać sequence above the Riss 1/Riss 2 pedocomplex (F6) shows an increased continental climatic influence.