Mineralogical discrimination of the pleistocene loess/paleosol sections in Srijem and Baranja, Croatia

•North-south transect provides insight into spatial distribution of mineral phases.•Mineral fingerprinting of loess sediment sources by discriminant function analysis.•North: the long distance fluvial transport accounts for higher content of LMF.•South: increased impact of rivers draining the Central Bosnian Mountains of DOZ.•Most chemically resistant heavy minerals are solely associated with paleosols.

Previous investigations of the mineralogical composition of loess sections (loess, loess-like sediments, paleosols, alluvial intercalations) in the Carpathian Basin have concluded that the Danube River is the dominant control on the loessitic parent material. These investigations also identify a significant role for the Danube's tributaries in creating local variations. The north-south alignment of these sections forms a transect from the central part of the Carpathian Basin to its southern edge. In this work, the mineral origin of loess sediments was identified by using the multivariate statistical method of discriminant function analysis. Two models were constructed based on the modal composition as the suite of predictor (independent) variables: one is using geographic location as the a priori grouping criterion (SECTION); another employing the difference between the sampling media (LITHOLOGY). Both of the examined discriminant models demonstrate the existence of the mixing zones. The Erdut section is a clear mixture of the mineralogies at the other studied locations, while loesses appear generally intermediate in mineralogy between alluvium and paleosol. The main rationale for the observed difference in modal composition between the Å arengrad and other analyzed sections is the proximity of the Å arengrad section to the Sava River floodplain and Dinaric Ophiolite Zone (DOZ), both important source areas for aeolian sediments in the southern edge of the Carpathian Basin that transport material from the Central Bosnian Mountains unit of DOZ. Chemically, the most resistant heavy minerals together with opaque minerals are exclusively associated with paleosols, being typical products of geochemical pedogenic processes.