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Reconstruction of mass accumulation rates (MARs) in loess deposits are widely used for interpreting long‐term aeolian transport and climate dynamics in terrestrial environments. However, these interpretations are often driven by a preponderance of reconstructions from individual or selected sites, which can bias our understanding of past climate, especially in the absence of other proxy information. Recent studies on MARs from multiple loess sites in Arid Central Asia (ACA) reveal disparities in the timing of peaks in accumulation between sites, as well as asynchronies with loess flux in the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP). We investigate this issue by (1) dating five new sites from the western Ili Basin, therefore extending the spatial cover of loess chronologies across ACA and (2) combining that with MARs from >30 sites across ACA and the CLP over the last 60 ka. Our results indicate spatio‐temporal inhomogeneity in the timing and rate of loess deposition across the ACA, and highlight the importance of interrogating local and regional influences on dust supply and transport. Our synthesis of MARs from ACA and the CLP suggests that the timing of peak dust flux as an indicator of large‐scale climate dynamics is best derived from an aggregate of sites; this removes site‐specific bias where local processes or topographic settings outweigh the climate signature., L Lisá acknowledges the support of internal program No. RVO67985831 of the Institute of Geology CAS, Prague and OP RDE, MEYS under the project ‘Ultra‐trace isotope research in social and environmental studies using accelerator mass spectrometry’, Reg. No. CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_019/0000728., This study was funded by an independent Max Planck Research Group awarded by the Max Planck Society to KE Fitzsimmons.

Quartär – Internationales Jahrbuch zur Erforschung des Eiszeitalters und der Steinzeit, Bd. 61 (2014): Quartär. Internationales Jahrbuch zur Eiszeitalter- und Steinzeitforschung

The presence of lamellae (or bands) often promises an interesting sedimentary archive related to the occupation or abandonment history of a site. How exactly might such types of bands be interpreted, and how do their presence change the original primary features preserved within the archaeological structure? For this review, two archaeological sites are introduced, both distinct in many aspects, located in di erent climatic regions, but with the presence of bands preserved inside of the in ll, as well as in the locality’s background. One site is related to the Magdalenian/Epigravettian occupation in south-western Poland, and the second related to the Neolithic occupation in central Bohemia. What connect these two localities are their permeable sandy background, presence of human occupation, and the development of the above-described textural features. Sedimentological observations supported by micromorphology and geochemistry, as well as by magnetic susceptibility, revealed that, in both localities, the presence of dark brown bands was the result of repeated illuviation due to a kind of podsolization process not necessarily related to human presence. The illuvial lamellae/bands at the Kly site probably originated during the Subboreal due to the increased humidity connected with the presence of the disturbed background of the in ll in the ditch. The Sowin site displays, at the very least, two phases of origin. One of the phases is pre-dated by glacial conditions, and the second is of late glacial or Holocene origin. The origin of these features in both study sites is due to precipitated water and the movement of clay down the section, but under their di erent conditions.

International Workshop on Loess and Archeology : Geoarcheological and paleoenvironmental research in European loess-scapes : Abstract Book / Herausgeber: Prof. Dr. Frank Lehmkuhl, Lehrstuhl für Physische Geographie und Geoökologie ; Editoren: Dr. Janina Bösken, Prof. Dr. Jürgen Richter, Prof. Dr. Frank Lehmkuhl International Workshop on Loess and Archeology, WLA 2019, Aachen, Germany, 27 Nov 2019 - 29 Nov 2019; Aachen : Lehrstuhl für Physische Geographie und Geoökologie 66-67 (2019)., Published by Lehrstuhl für Physische Geographie und Geoökologie, Aachen