Ulrich Friedrich Hambach

Romanian Academy · Institute of Speleology "Emil Racovita"

The study of geological archives of dust is of great relevance as they are directly linked to past atmospheric circulation and bear the potential to reconstruct dust provenance and flux relative to climate changes. Among the dust sinks, loess–palaeosol sequences (LPSs) represent the only continental and non-aquatic archives that are predominantly b...

The dense concentration of Paleolithic sites on the Bistrița Valley has been a focal point of Paleolithic research for over seventy years. Nevertheless, over the last two decades, the impression of a well‑understood archaeological record in this area was contradicted by various new reassessments, highlighting the many unresolved issues. The rich mu...

The Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2 is considered the coldest, driest and stormiest period during the last Glacial-Interglacial cycle in large parts of Eurasia. This resulted from strongly decreased northern hemisphere temperature and related maximum extension of northern ice sheets that strongly reinforced large-scale circulation modes such as wester...

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...

Loess deposits are the most extent continental archives of climatic- and environmental change and represent important components of local and global dust systems. Consequently, their geochemistry provides an excellent basis for studying climate oscillations on land and how these affect processes in the terrestrial system. It is, however, challengin...

Source distant dust records are crucial to establish 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 pIRIR 290 chronology and multi-proxy investigation of the Irig loess-pal...

Ciomadul’s landscape represents an amalgamation of volcanic edifices that build up a lava dome complex. Spanning almost 1 million years of volcanic and geotectonic evolution, Ciomadul periodically released large amounts of volcaniclastic material that modified the local topography. The volcanic activity constrained the Olt River by carving the narr...

Ciomadul’s last explosive eruptions produced large volumes of pumice and ash, so-called tephra, which had the potential to be dispersed by wind over wide areas and deposited in geological archives (e.g., lakes and ocean floors). Using the chemical fingerprinting of volcanic glass in tephra deposits, at least four main eruptive events can be disting...

The Vârghiș Gorges karst system (Perșani Mountains, Eastern Carpathians) constituted a point of interest for speleologists, paleontologists and archaeologists since the second half of the 19th century. Their efforts succeeded in highlighting the notable archaeological potential of the area, although the actual research results were not always thoro...

Loess-paleosol sequences (LPS) of the Lower Danube region provide high resolution records of Pleistocene climate change. Tephra layers (volcanic ashes) are valuable chronological marker horizons in sedimentary sequences and overcome issues of correlative age models and e.g., limitations of absolute dating methods. Tephra occurrences observed within...

Loess deposits intercalated by paleosols are detailed terrestrial archives of Quaternary climate variability providing information on the global dust cycle and landscape dynamics. Their paleoclimatic significance is often explored by quantifying their mineral magnetic properties due to their sensitivity to local/regional hydroclimate variability. D...

In their discussion paper, Sümegi & Gulyás (2021) expressed their concerns about our remarks regarding the reliability of malacothermometer-based July paleotemperature reconstructions for the Carpathian Basin as published in Obreht et al. (2019). We are content to see that our paper inspired the continuation of the discussion, however, we have some...

In mid-latitude Eurasia, loess-paleosol sequences (LPS) provide the most widespread sedimentary records of Quaternary paleoenvironmental evolution. In the Middle Danube Basin (MDB), these archives cover at least the last million years of climate history, and occasionally contain archeological findings. The studied Zemun LPS is located on the right...

The Upper Pleistocene geoarchives in the south‐eastern Carpathian Basin are represented predominantly by loess–palaeosol records. In 2015, a 10 m sediment core composed of clay‐rich lacustrine sediments was recovered by vibracoring a dry lake basin located between the Vršac Mountains (Serbia) and the Banat Sands in the south‐eastern Carpathian Basi...

The source of aeolian sediments such as loess has been investigated since decades. Reliable knowledge on potential dust sources is crucial to understand past climatic and environmental conditions accompanying the dispersal of early modern humans (EMH) into Europe. Provenance studies are usually performed on small sample sets and most established me...

This paper reports the preliminary results of two test pit excavations in Toplitsa cave in Northern Bulgaria and discusses the potential for future investigations of the Pleistocene layers associated with Marine Isotope Stage 3 and the transitional Middle to Upper Palaeolithic period. We describe the lithostratigraphic layers, archaeological finds...

Loess is an important archive of environmental change covering approximately 10% of the Earth's terrestrial surface. Numerous studies have analyzed loess deposits and in particular loess-paleosol sequences. To analyze these sequences, it is important to know the spatial distribution of aeolian sediments, their location relative to potential source...

During glacial times, the North Atlantic region was affected by serious climate changes corresponding to Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles that were linked to dramatic shifts in sea temperature and moisture transfer to the continents. However, considerable efforts are still needed to understand the effects of these shifts on terrestrial environments. In th...

At the Willendorf site Upper Paleolithic archeological layers associated to early Aurignacian cultures were found. The environmental conditions of the associated society, potentially co-existing with Neanderthal groups, is still not fully understood. Here, we report on environmental magnetic analyses including anisotropy of the magnetic susceptibil...

The Carpathian Basin is a key region for understanding modern human expansion into western Eurasia during the Late Pleistocene because of numerous early hominid fossil find spots. However, the corresponding archeological record remains less understood due to a paucity of well dated, contextualized sites. To help rectify this, we excavated and sampl...

Loess-paleosol sequences (LPSs) are important terrestrial archives of paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic information. One of the main obstacles for the investigation and interpretation of these archives is the uncertainty of their age-depth relationship. In this study, four different dating techniques were applied to the Late Pleistocene to Holoc...

Loess palaeosol sequences (LPSs) are terrestrial climatic archives capable of recording past climatic change. In particular, the alternation of interglacial and glacial periods is recognized in LPSs as intercalated buried soils (palaeosols) within loess units. For LPSs of the Eurasian loess belt, correlating low-frequency magnetic susceptibility (χ...

Integrating magnetic susceptibility and colorimetric parameters for paleoenvironmental reconstructions from loess-paleosol sequences. A case study from the Middle Danube Basin. The full video of my talk can be found on Youtube under the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PjUdBfAHZE

Paleoenvironmental reconstructions on a (supra-)regional scale have gained attention in Quaternary sciences during the last decades. In terrestrial realms, loess deposits and especially intercalations of loess and buried soils, so called loess-paleosol sequences (LPS) are important archives to unravel the terrestrial response to e.g. climatic fluct...

The purpose of this study is to better understand the system of Quaternary loess-palaeosol sequences (LPS) of the Matmata region in southern Tunisia. Results from a combination of predominantly classical methods (grain size and mineral analysis, CaCO3- content estimation, environmental magnetism) indicate strong soil formation phases during which t...

The role of environmental change in the evolution of cultural traits is a topic of long-standing scientific debate with strongly contrasting views. Major obstacles for assessing environmental impacts on the evolution of material culture are the fragmentary nature of archaeological and – to a somewhat lesser extent – geoscientific archives and the i...

The site Balta Alba Kurgan (BAK) in Romania was studied in the frame of a multi-method dating approach, including optical stimulated luminescence, radiocarbon dating, magnetic stratigraphy and tephrochronology. Here, we present the results of the magnetic stratigraphy approach. Oriented samples obtained from the sub-sections BAK2 and BAK4 were comb...

Loess-Palaeosol-Sequences (LPS) in the Central European region provide outstanding terrestrial polygenetic and multiphase archives responding to past climate and environments over various spatial and temporal scales. As yet, however, the geomorphological and pedogenic processes involved in LPS formation, and their interplay with changes in ecologic...

A major impact of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) on the East-Central European Upper Paleolithic (UP) demographic and cultural adaptation is now largely acknowledged. Archaeologically, the basic trend leading to a fragmentation of the Gravettian technocomplex and the emergence of increasingly regionally-focused paleo-cultural units is also generally...

Loess-palaeosol sequences (LPSs) are valuable records of Quaternary environmental change, especially in the northern hemisphere. In Eurasian LPS, the alternation of loess and palaeosol intervals reflects the uninterrupted but fluctuating dust deposition during the Quaternary and the fluctuations of temperature and precipitation responsible for the...

The Eastern Romanian Carpathians harbor a rich Upper Paleolithic archaeological record, mostly concentrated on the Bistrița river terraces. Despite extensive field research spanning decades, the regional archaeological record has long suffered from poor chronometric support and contradictory taxonomy. The recently excavated spot at Bistricioara-Lut...

Loess-palaeosol sequences (LPSs) provide the most important northern hemispheric terrestrial Quaternary palaeoenvironmental records. In the Middle Danube basin, these archives cover the last million years (Marković et al., 2015) of climate history and contain archaeological horizons from occupations by early humans. The Zemun loess site (ZLS, locat...

The loess–palaeosol sequence of Batajnica (Vojvodina region, Serbia) is considered as one of the most complete and thickest terrestrial palaeoclimate archives for the Middle and Late Pleistocene. In order to achieve a numerical chronology for this profile, four sets of ages were obtained on 18 individual samples. Equivalent doses were determined us...

The vast Pleistocene aeolian sediments of the Lower Danube Basin are an important archive of Quaternary palaeoclimate dynamics in Southeast Europe. The intercalation of loess layers and fossil soils, so called loess-palaeosol sequences (LPS) are interpreted as the results of oscillating climate phases in the past. However, the characteristics of th...

The entrance of Earth's climate into the present icehouse state during a time of rapid temperature decline in the late Pliocene was intensively investigated during the past decade. Even though it is well documented in marine archives, a detailed reconstruction of the Pliocene-Pleistocene climatic evolution of Central Europe is hampered by a general...

The mineral magnetic properties of Pleistocene aeolian dune sands from the island of Fuerteventura (Canary Islands, Spain) were studied in order to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental evolution of Pleistocene climates during their formation. The palaeodunes on Fuerteventura mainly consist of carbonate sands admixed with dust and material of volcani...

Millennial-scale palaeoclimate variability has been documented in various terrestrial and marine palaeoclimate proxy records throughout the Northern Hemisphere for the last glacial cycle. Its clear expression and rapid shifts between different states of climate (Greenland Interstadials and Stadials) represents a correlation tool beyond the resoluti...

19 Due to the general lack of other high-resolution paleoclimate records, loess-paleosol sequences 20 are crucial archives for disentangling past climate variability in southeastern Europe. Here we 21 present results of a multi proxy sedimentological and geochemical investigation of Kurortne 22 loess-paleosol section from southwestern Ukraine, coup...

The extensive research in the Ceahlaului area, initially conducted between 1955-1959, led to the identification and investigation of more than 20 points, some of them being complex sites, with several levels of habitation, attributed to different stages of the Upper Palaeolithic. However, the correlation of data related to syn- and post-depositiona...

The Pleistocene deposits capping fluvial terraces in the Bistrita valley (Eastern Carpathians, Romania) host a high density of Upper Palaeolithic (UP) settlements, rendering this area a type-region for Late Pleistocene cultural evolution in eastern Romania and beyond. Despite its archaeological significance, site formation, palaeoenvironmental cont...

The two critical books, launching the study and appreciation of loess, were ‘ Charakteristik der Felsarten’ (CdF) by Karl Caesar von Leonhard, published in Heidelberg by Joseph Engelmann, in 1823-4, and ‘ Principles of Geology’ (PoG) by Charles Lyell, published in London by John Murray in 1830-3. Each of these books was published in three volumes a...

Central European loess-palaeosol sequences (LPS) are valuable recorders of Late Pleistocene climatic change Bialy Kościół (BK) section is located in Lower Silesia c. 130 km. of the last glacial maximum ice extent. BK LPS is considered to be one of the most complete LPS in SW-Poland covering the last glacial cycle (LGC). Recording since latest Pleis...

Central European loess-palaeosol sequences (LPS) are valuable recorders of Late Pleistocene climatic change, especially in areas where other geoarchives are rare or absent. However, in the vicinity of the ice margins mid latitude last glacial loess sequences are strongly influenced by periglacially controlled humidity variations. Deep seasonal fros...

Background Biocrusts are important functional units in dryland ecosystems. Regarded as ecosystem engineers, cyanobacteria in biocrusts contribute several major physico-chemical and biological processes. However, the role of cyanobacteria in the process of loess formation has been underestimated. Recently, their contribution to sediment development...

The entrance of Earth's climate into the present icehouse state during a time of rapid temperature decline in the late Pliocene was intensively investigated during the past decade. Even though it is well documented in marine archives, detailed reconstruction of the Pliocene-Pleistocene climatic evolution of central Europe is hampered by a general l...

Loess-palaeosol sequences (LPSs) are widespread archives of Pleistocene environmental changes in Eurasia. In Europe, LPPs can be found from the oceanic regions of France in the NW via the Pannonian Basin to the continental plains to the north and east of the Black and Caspian seas. Their chronologies are determined by various direct and indirect da...

In the Carpathian Basin, loess is the most important archive of Quaternary palaeoclimate evolution, but only in the past two decades systematic and high-resolution investigations were conducted. Those studies remarkably improved our knowledge of the regional past environmental change; palaeoclimate inferences based on the magnetic susceptibility an...

Reconstructing dust Mass Accumulation Rate (MAR) from loess deposits is critical to understanding past atmospheric mineral dust activity and requires accurate independent age models from loess deposits across Europe and Asia. Previous correlations of loess in Europe and China have tended to focus on multimillennial timescales, with no detailed exam...

The vertical and horizontal contamination profile of the loess sediments located in the vicinity of the highway Novi Sad-Belgrade, with the intense frequency of vehicles, has been assessed. The heavy metal content (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) and hydrocarbon content were determined for the samples collected from two loess profiles in br...

Magnetic properties of soils formed in and on loess substrate and their relation to climate are of general interest in paleoclimate and pedological research. The loess-paleosol sequences (LPS) in the Vojvodina region (Serbia) have been the subject of intensive study. On the Bačka loess plateau (BLP), covering approximately 2500 km2, six different s...

Vârghiș karst, with its limited spatial development but well-preserved features, is a peculiarity in the karst inventory of Romania. It shows several well-marked karstification levels, and a relatively high number of caves, the majority harboring thick clastic deposits. However, its most important asset is that it hosts numerous traces of past huma...

Supraregional (palaeo)geoecological studies require detailed knowledge of the distribution of aeolian sediments and their sources. Such spatial data can be visualised and shared in maps, but often these are constrained in their resolution or extent. This is the case for the Carpathian Basin, where cross-border maps are not detailed enough to answer...

Here we provide a robust luminescence chronology for Stayky (Ukraine), a reference profile in European Late Pleistocene loess stratigraphy, based on optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating on quartz (4 e11 mm, 63e90 mm) and post infrared-infrared stimulated luminescence (pIR-IRSL)) on polymineral fine grains. For the Bug loess unit, the equi...

Aeolian sediments represent ideal materials for the application of luminescence dating methods due to their mineralogical composition showing high amounts of quartz and feldspars. These minerals possess a whole range of luminescence characteristics that make them suitable for luminescence dating. In the case of aeolian transported dust forming loes...

On the territory of Serbia, Pleistocene aeolian deposits are mainly distributed in the Vojvodina region where they cover large areas only separated by the alluvial plains and terraces of the Danube and Tisza rivers. Unlike the loess sequences in the Vojvodina, in northeastern Serbia the loess formations are quite discontinuous. In this region we ma...

Most of the loess sites in northeastern Serbia are situated on the bank of the Danube River. These sections are not characterized by the continuity as are the loess formations in Vojvodina. In this region we can mainly find smaller, isolated sections lying over older slopes and river terraces. The loess in this region can be described as a typical...

Loess-paleosol sequences represent the spatially most widespread geoarchives across Eurasia. Hence, the assessment of chrono-and lithostratigraphic patterns and differences of these terrestrial paleoclimatic records represents a key to unravel the climate evolution of Eurasia. Yet, the reconstruction of its climatic history is still challenging, i....

Until recently, the cave-based Middle Palaeolithic in Romania offered almost exclusively archaeological collections without chronological control, the limited number of radiocarbon samples reported usually lacking a precise archaeological context. In an effort to improve such limitations, we initiated an interdisciplinary research of the archaeolog...

Here we investigate the timing of the last glacial loess (L1) - Holocene soil (S0) transition recorded in loess-paleosol sequences from SE Europe (Ukraine, Romania, Serbia) by applying comparative luminescence dating techniques on quartz and feldspars. Equivalent dose measurements were carried out using the single-aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR) pr...