The loess profile at Albertirsa, Hungary—improvements in loess stratigraphy by luminescence dating

A very detailed Upper Pleistocene record is exposed in a loess/palaeosol sequence at the section at Albertirsa in Hungary. Luminescence dating was carried out to establish a more reliable chronological framework for the Hungarian loess record. The lowermost palaeosol of the section, probably an equivalent of the MF2 horizon at the Mende key section, is superimposed on penultimate glacial loess. An IRSL age estimate of about 65 ka BP was determined for the lower part of this palaeosol, indicating soil formation late in oxygen isotope stage (OIS) 5 or early in OIS 3. A significant hiatus most likely occurs in the lower part of the lower fossil soil. The loess between the upper and and lower palaeosol yielded a mean luminescence age of about 50 ka BP. The upper palaeosol is probably an equivalent of the MF1 horizon at the Mende type section, formed between 37 and 25 ka BP, and so this palaeosol represents the Hengelo and/or Denekamp interstadial of northwestern European stratigraphy. The loess is intercalated by a humic horizon, which yielded a mean luminescence age estimate between 21 and 19 ka at the Albertirsa section.