Dávid Molnár

Preliminary malacological investigation on the loess profile at Zmajevac, Croatia

More than 5 500 specimens of 37 terrestrial snail species were collected from a loess paleosol section at Zmajevac village, Croatia. The presence of Ena montana, Mastus bielzi, Cochlodina laminata, Macrogastra ventricosa, Clausilia pumila, Clausilia dubia, Pseudofusulus varians, Trichia unidentata and Trichia edentula species from the lower paleosol layer suggests that this malacological zone formed during the initial phase of a Middle Pleistocene interglacial cycle.

Preliminary malacological investigation of the loess profile at Šarengrad, Croatia

More than 3 400 specimens of 51 mollusc species were identified in a loessy-alluvial section at Šarengrad village in Croatia. This section provides one of the most diverse collections of mollusc species in the lower Danube. The malacological data from this profile suggests that this section developed during the last interglacial-glacial cycle.

Črvenka loess-paleosol sequence revisited: Local and regional Quaternary biogeographical inferences of the southern Carpathian Basin

Abstract Studies of Quaternary malacological assemblages from the loess-paleosol section of Črvenka (Vojvodina region, Serbia) provided the opportunity to examine the paleobiogeographic dynamics of the southern part of the Carpathian Basin. The results of quantitative-statistical, paleoecological and paleobiogeographical analyses performed on 9185 specimens of 38 mollusc species from six stratigraphic units showed that the study area was a transition area between the refuge areas in the Carpathian Basin during the Pleistocene.

Mollusc-based paleoecological investigations of the Late Copper — Early Bronze Age earth mounds (kurgans) on the Great Hungarian Plain

The malacological material of the mound bodies (kurgans) of the Great Hungarian Plain indicates a mixed vegetation of dry and humid environments, developed on a mosaic of alkaline and chernozem soils in the period of the construction of the kurgan. The malacofauna that evolved in the upper soil horizon of the mound indicates the extremely dry environmental conditions of steppes, charaterized by the dominance of thermoxerophilous species. Dominant species of this kurgan are Chondrula tridens, Helicopsis striata, Granaria frumentum and Cepaea vindobonensis. The species composition shows that there are differences in the malacofauna of the Danube-Tisa Interfluves region compared to that of the lowlands east of River Tisza, indicated by the higher dominance of Granaria frumentum and Helicopsis striata in the former region. Following the construction of the kurgans an island-like, dry habitat developed on their surface, covered by black soil and populated by a steppe fauna, the composition of which is comparable mostly with the mollusc fauna of loess steppes and forest steppe, irrespectively of the floodplain or wind-blown sand character of the original surface.

Preliminary paleoecological reconstruction of long-term relationship between human and environment in the northern part of Danube-along Plain, Hungary

Abstract The peat bog at Ócsa is located at the northern part of the Danube-Tisa Interfluves at the transitional zone of two landscapes with different morphological characters. At the boundary of the Danube-Tisa Interfluves and the Danube-along Plain a marshland sequence can be found from Hajós to Ócsa. We extended our research to the Ócsa peat bog to complete the environmental historical investigations in the examined area, as well. The bog is located in a former pool formed by the Danube River in which aeolian sand and thick lake sediment deposited from the Late Pleistocene. The initial oligotrophic lake became mesotrophic, therefore thick carbonate sediment deposited. Afterwards, as a consequence of the Neolithic human occupations, the natural development of the lake changed drastically and the lake choked up. The pollen and quartermalacological analysis of the area support the mentioned geological processes.

First radiocarbon dated paleoecological data from the freshwater carbonates of the Danube-Tisza Interfluve

Abstract The first radiocarbon dates available on the evolution of the freshwater carbonates of the Danube-Tisza Interfluve are presented in this work along with their possible uses to precisely date paleoecological and paleoenvironmental changes. This work also gives the basis of a comparative analysis of the Holocene radiocarbon-dated profile of Csólyospálos with other Hungarian radiocarbondated profiles of the same age (Bátorliget, the Sárrét, etc.) and the implementation of a detailed chronological and regional paleoenvironmental study. Furthermore, our findings clearly demonstrate the importance of radiocarbon analysis in the study of terminal Pleistocene and Holocene Hungarian sedimentary sequences for accurately dating and reconstructing the chronological order of paleoenvironmental changes as well as the evolution of the natural endowments plus the regional comparison of the various profiles.

Late glacial river-bed changes on the Little Hungarian Plain, based on preliminary chronological, geological and paleontological data

Abstract Comprehensive chronological, geological and paleontological investigations were conducted as part of archaeological excavations in 2011 and 2012, prior to the construction of the M85 motorway between Gyor and Csorna, Hungary. These studies clearly show that the alluvial fan that underlies much of the Little Hungarian Plain was built up by streams flowing in a southeasterly to northwesterly direction from the nearby Bakony Hills, and continued to form until the end of the last glacial period. The northern part of the fan, now named the Csorna Plain, became inactive (i.e. became a fossil river-bed system) at about 25–15 ka, when the Rába and Marcal rivers changed theirflowdirection fromsouth–north towest–east.As a result of this change in flow direction, the Rába and Marcal rivers became incised, capturing the Bakony stream beds, stopping sediment deposition on the northern side of the alluvial fan (essentially the left bank of the Rába-Marcal river system), although the southern part of the fan continue to form as before. On the northern side of the fan, the sediment surface dried out due to falling groundwater levels, and aeolian sand-drifts began to form. Eventually, accumulation of the sand-drift sediments ceased due to the deposition of loess-type sediments, which fixed the surface, conserved the sand-drift shapes, and contributed to the straightening and eventual canalization of the fluvial channels. Geoarchaeological examinations indicate that the development of present fluvial features were strongly affected by the settlement and tillage activity of human communities on the Csorna Plain.