The provenance of Danubian loess

With one of the largest watersheds in Europe, draining complex geological terrains within the Alps, Bohemian Massif, Carpathians, Dinarides, and the Balkan Mountains, the Danube River valley has long been linked to the formation of thick loess deposits, particularly within the Middle and Lower Danube basins. However, uncertainty over the provenance of loess-palaeosol sequences along the Danube impacts our understanding of sediment generation mechanisms and hinders interpretation of paleoenvironmental proxies preserved in loess. To date, most of the studies investigating loess provenance in Europe have not attempted a standardised characterisation and synthesis of loess deposits with potential source rocks. Further, despite clear links identified between loess and rivers in Asia and Europe, detrital zircons have not yet been used systematically to investigate the relationship between loess and the fluvial sediments of the Danube and its tributaries. Finally, in European loess research, provenance fingerprinting has often been conducted using indirect approaches or bulk sample geochemical analyses, which have been shown to have a limited application in well mixed sedimentary bodies such as loess.