Geochemical archive in the three loess/paleosol sections in the Eastern Croatia: Zmajevac I, Zmajevac and Erdut

•Paleosols are enriched with less mobile trace elements and HREE.•Paleosols could be clearly extracted based on Ba/Sr and (CaO+Na2O+MgO+K2O)/Al2O3.•No significant difference in chemical composition between the sections.•Based on F- and t-tests, cumulative horizons belong to paleosol-population.

The loess record in the Eastern Croatia provides an excellent high-resolution archive of climate and environmental change, providing evidence for the interaction between accumulation and erosion of aeolian and fluvial sediments during the Middle and Late Pleistocene. Impressive loess-paleosol successions up to 30 m thick are exposed by neotectonic movements along SE slope of the Bansko Brdo (=Bansko Hill) (Zmajevac I and Zmajevac) and the steep cliffs of the Danube River (Erdut). The published lithostratigraphical results are complemented by geochemical studies (content of major, trace and REE and pH). In Zmajevac I section three paleosols are intercalated in the loess, in Zmajevac four and in Erdut four paleosols are intercalated in the loess. IRSL age estimates of 17.8 ± 1.9 and 217 ± 22 ka indicate that most of the middle and upper pleniglacial loess record is missing. In all investigated sections, alluvial sediments are intercalated in the loess deposits, indicating periods of fluvial activity. Geochemical characteristics of investigated paleosols explain both the main characteristics and degree of pedogenesis. Paleosol horizons could be clearly distinguished from loess based content of major, trace and REE and on weathering coefficients, such as Ba/Sr and (CaO+Na2O+MgO+K2O)/Al2O3.