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Loess-paleo soil sequence northern Iran

Reconstruction of the paleoclimate and paleoenvironment

Loess-paleo soil sequences in northern Iran are being investigated by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) as part of a DFG project in co-operation with colleagues from the University of Bonn, the University of Cologne and the University of Gorgan (Iran), with the aim of creating a reliable chronological framework for the Upper and Middle Pleistocene climatic and environmental changes. This involves investigating the key Pleistocene profiles at Agh Band, Now Deh, Toshan and Neka. Supra-regional correlations and paleoclimatic reconstructions are made possible by comparing the findings from northern Iran with those from neighbouring areas such as Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and China. Detailed conclusions on how the climate has changed over the past 200,000 years can be determined by the quantitative scientific approach using proxy analysis (grain size, geochemical parameters, magnetic susceptibility, etc.). The OSL data for dunes from the Turkmenian steppe have identified Holocene depositional ages for the first time. These findings indicate that the genesis of the dunes began after the most recent major regression of the Caspian Sea, and that these sands are therefore not contemporaneous with the loess sediments deposited further to the south. 

 

 


Project-relevante literature:

Frechen, M., Kehl, M., Sarvati, R. & Skowronek, A. (2009): Loess chronology of the Caspian Lowland in Northern Iran.- Quaternary International, 198: 220-233.

 Kehl, M., Frechen, M. & Skowronek, A. (2009): Nature and age of late Quaternary basin fill deposits in the basin of Persepolis.- Quaternary International, 196: 57-70.

 Vlaminck, S., Kehl, M., Lauer, T., Shahriari, A., Sharifi, J., Eckmeier, E., Lehndorff, E., Khormali, F., Frechen, M. (2016): The loess-soil sequence at Toshan: insights into late Pleistocene climate change.- Quaternary International, 399: 122-135.

 Kehl, M., Khormali, F., Lehndorff, E., Frechen, M. (eds., 2017): Loess in western Central Asia.- Quaternary International, 429: 1-2.

 Lauer, T., Frechen, M., Vlaminck, S., Kehl, M., Lehndorff, E., Shahriari, A., Khormali, F. (2017): Luminescence-chronology of the loess/palaeosol sequence Toshan, Northern Iran – A highly resolved climate archive for the last glacial-interglacial cycle.- Quaternary International, 429: 3-12.

 Lauer, T., Vlaminck, S., Frechen, M., Rolf, C, Kehl, M., Sharifi, J., Khormali, F. (2017): The Agh Band loess-palaeosol sequence – a terrestrial archive for climatic shifts during the last and penultimate glacial – interglacial cycles in a semiarid region in Northern Iran.- Quaternary International, 429: 13-30.

 Taheri et al. (2017): Micromorphology of the Lower Pleistocene loess in the Iranian Loess Plateau and its paleoclimate implications.- Quaternary International, 429: 31-40.

 Xin Wang, Haitao Wei, Khormali, F., Taheri, M., Kehl, M., Frechen, M., Lauer, T., Fahu Chen (2017): Grain-size distribution of Pleistocene loess deposits in northern Iran and its palaeoclimatic implications.- Quaternary International, 429: 41-51.

 Shahriari, A., Khormali, F., Bläsing, M., Vlaminck, S., Kehl, M., Frechen, M., Karimi, A., Lehndorff, E. (2017): Biomarkers in modern and buried soils of steppe and forest ecosystems of Northern Iran.- Quaternary International, 429: 62-73.

 Kehl, M., Khormali, F., Frechen, M., Ghafarpour, A., Kiani, F., Pourmasoumi, M., Rahimzadeh, N., Taheri, M., Vlaminck, S. (2017): Loess, dunes and palaeosols in the South Caspian Basin, Northern Iran.- Excursion Guide to Loessfest2017, 1-54.

 Vlaminck, S., Rolf, C., Franz, S.-O., Lauer, T., Kehl, M., Lehndorff, E., Frechen, M., Khormali, F. (2018): Late Pleistocene dust dynamics and pedogenesis in Southern Eurasia - detailed insights from the loess profile Toshan (NE Iran).- Quaternary Science Reviews, 180: 75-95.

 

Project Management

Duration

01.01.2016-31.12.2018

Funding

DFG

Funding mark: FR877/26-2