Grain-size data from the loess profiles Ostrau and Gleina in Saxony (Germany)

Grain-size data from the loess profiles Ostrau and Gleina in Saxony (Germany)

The samples were taken between 2009 and 2010 in the framework of the DFG project "Rekonstruktion der Umweltbedingungen des Spätpleistozäns in Mittelsachsen anhand von Löss-Paläobodensequenzen" (DFG FU 417/7-1 and FA 239/13-1) from the loess records Ostrau and Gleina. Both located in the Saxonian-Loess-Region in Germany. For further details on the project profiles (with further references therein), we refer to Meszner et al. (2011,2013), Kreutzer et al. (2012), Meszner (2015) and Zech et al. (2017). 

Samples for the data reported here were selected in 2015. 212 samples were taken from the loess profile Ostrau and 269 samples from the loess profile Gleina. Full details on sampling and sample preparation can be found in the Grassl (2016) (unpublished master thesis in Germany, available upon request). The most relevant details are extracted below.   

Preparation and measurements

Sample preparation and measurements were carried out at the GFZ in Potsdam (Germany). Thirty-nine samples from the profile Ostrau were separated into eight equal parts to obtain representative samples. The samples were labeled with "G" for Gleina and "O" for Ostrau. All other samples were sampled without applying this separation method. 
For samples from the profile Ostrau, the suffix "mT" (with separation) and "oT" (without separation) indicates whether this 
separation method was used. 

The samples were treated with HCl (10 %, 12 h to 20 h) and rinsed in the demineralized water. To suspend the samples, NO3P04 was used on twelve pars of H2O2. 

A Retch Laser Scattering Particle Size Distribution Analyzer (HORIBA LA- 950) was used for the grain-size measurements. Details 
on the settings are reported separately in each file.

The data in the repository 

Grainsize_data.zip This folder contains 4,853 ASCII TXT-files with the raw granulometric data. Filenames are unique timestamps  (measurement date and time in the format YYYYMMDDHHMMSS CET). Each file comes with a header with relevant metadata and the measurement data. The metadata also contains the sample name, e.g., O_55_oT reads "O" for Ostrau, "55" sampling depth in cm, and "oT" for "ohne Teiler" (without separator, while "mT", "mit Teiler" would stand for with separator). For files for the profile Gleina, a "G" is used followed by the sampling depth range (two numbers, e.g., G_380_382) in cm. 

The files Gleina_depth.txt, Ostrau02_depth.txt, and Ostrau03_depth.txt allow a correlation with the profiles graphs published in Meszner (2015). 

References

Grassl, W., 2016. End-Member-Modellierungsanalyse an hochauflösenden Korngrößen der Lössprofile Ostrau und Gleina, Lommatzscher Pflege, Sachsen. unpublished Master thesis, TU Dresden.

Kreutzer, S., Fuchs, M., Meszner, S., Faust, D., 2012. OSL chronostratigraphy of a loess-palaeosol sequence in Saxony/Germany using quartz of different grain sizes. Quaternary Geochronology 10, 102–109. doi:10.1016/j.quageo.2012.01.004

Meszner, S., Fuchs, M., Faust, D., 2011. Loess-Paleosol-Sequences from the loess area of Saxony (Germany). E & G, Quaternary Science Journal 60, 47–65.

Meszner, S., 2015. Loess from Saxony. A reconstruction of the Late Pleistocene landscape evolution and palaeoenvironment based on loess-palaeosol sequences from Saxony (Germany). Dresden. PhD thesis. TU Dresden. 

Meszner, S., Kreutzer, S., Fuchs, M., Faust, D., 2013. Late Pleistocene landscape dynamics in Saxony, Germany:  Paleoenvironmental reconstruction using loess-paleosol sequences. Quaternary International 296, 95–107. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2012.12.040

Zech, M., Kreutzer, S., Zech, R., Goslar, T., Meszner, S., McIntyre, C., Häggi, C., Eglinton, T., Faust, D., Fuchs, M., 2017. Comparative 14C and OSL dating of loess-paleosol sequences to evaluate post-depositional contamination of n-alkane biomarkers. Quaternary Research 87, 180–189. doi:10.1017/qua.2016.7