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A simple modelling approach of loess-paleosol sequences combining both local insolation (as represented by a combination of precession and obliquity; p-0.5t) and a global climate signal (represented by the LR04 benthic oxygen isotope stack) is presented. Aim is the combination of these signals and the setting of threshold values to mimic loess-paleosol formation in the Pannonian Basin. As a good fit dies not necessarily imply a causal link, results require critical discussion.

The understanding of the climate system of the Earth’s, its present day state, and the prediction of its future states requires the detailed knowledge of its history. Sedimentary archives are the bases of almost any historical approach to the Earth’s climate system – the palaeoclimate research. Aeolian dust sediments (loess) are beside marine/lacustrine sediments, peat bogs and arctic ice cores the key archives especially for the reconstruction of the palaeoclimate in the Eurasian continental mid-latitudes. The Eurasian loess-belt has its western end in the Middle Danube (Carpathian) and the Lower Danube Basin. Like in the Chinese Loess Plateau and in the steppe areas of Central Asia and in the regions around the Caspian and the northern Black Sea one can find here true loess plateaus dating back more than one million years and comprising a semi-continuous record of the Quaternary palaeoclimate (Marković et al. 2011, 2012).

This contribution focuses on two PhD projects, which are integrated within the collaborative research centre 806 “Our way to Europe” at the University of Cologne and the RWTH Aachen University (Germany). The main research focus is the migration of anatomical modern human (AMH) to Europe. We concentrate on the paleoenvironmental conditions on the route through southeastern Europe. This links the region with the earliest fossils of Homo sapiens sapiens (so far known) in the Middle East, Anatolia, the Northwestern Black Sea, the Balkans and the Pannonian Basin. One PhD topic deals with the sedimentological and geochemical approach mainly from loess and loess-like sediments to reconstruct the paleoenvironmental conditions; the other PhD topic places an emphasis on the exact timing of those sedimentary records via luminescence dating. In particular the investigation of loess-paleosol sequences plays a central role. Geoarchives in Hungary, Serbia and Romania are of main interest for the project. The investigations will focus mainly on the loess and loess like sediments. However, data will be compared to further geoarchives, such as lacustrine sediments, speleothemes and marine records, to get a complete insight into the climatic evolution. First analyses include the loess-paleosol sequences at Bodrogkereztúr (Hungary, east of Miskolz), Orlovat (Serbia, north of Belgrade), Ságvár (Hungary, southeast of Lake Balaton), and Stalać (Serbia, confluence of South and West Morava).

Semlac is regarded as a key section for the Carpathian Basin because of the good preservation of the fine silt. The site is situated at the Mureş River in its lower reaches (Banat region, western Romanian). The more than 10 m thick loess sequence includes four fossil sol-complexes developed in homogenous relatively fine silty loess and dates back to marine isotope stage (MIS) 10. This setting offers possibilities to a) improve the understanding of the type and composition of the lowland loess sequences in the Carpathian Basin for the last interglacial palaeosol complex and beyond, b) reconstruct the temporal evolution of the local loess-palaeosol successions and c) compare the loess of the region to loess-sequences in adjacent areas (Carpathian Basin, Lower Danube) and to dust proxy data in the northern hemisphere. A strikingly sinusoidal course of physical property data in depth and time point to relatively homogenous, quasi-continuous background sedimentation of dust, which are interpreted as resulting from long-range transport. This is in contrast to a commonly observed more glacial-interglacial pattern with sharp boundaries of paleosols

The general pattern of loess-paleosol sequences for the last several glacial-interglacial cycles in South-eastern Europe is becoming more established through an increasing amount of available data. However, the paleoclimatic mechanisms leading to these patterns are much less understood, especially the deviations from northern hemisphere patterns. Here we use relatively simple models to determine the effect of insolation forcing and global climate, as represented by benthic d18O data, onto loess-paleosol sequences

In this study we evaluated simplified direct comparisons between Pleistocene regional and local terrestrial environmental archives and global deep sea and ice core records. Our recent results of the luminescence dating applied to the Serbian loess-paleosol sequences lead to an important question about the validity of previously generalized direct stratigraphic correlations, as well asto underline importance of understanding environmental thresholds which controllingdiscordances between these paleoclimatic records.