Plio-Pleistocene silt/clay-rich deposits and paleo-karst fissure sediments from sites
of the northern and southern parts of the Carpathian Basin were investigated. These
materials were supposed to be mixed during transport before being captured in karstified
fissures. Evidence that the eolian fissure sediments of Plio-Pleistocene age in the
older Triassic-Cretaceous limestones are derived from eolian silt and clay includes
compositional and textural matches, especially decreasing grain-size trends observed
downwards from the paleo-surface of the former landscape. Various environmental factors
could be recognized by the statistical evaluation of grain-size distribution curves
of fissure fillings sediments, such as the effects of eolian transport, parent rock
type, weathering, and other sediment transport processes. Grain-size distribution
curves with a single maximum in the silt size range are typical for the overlying
siltstone debris, for the redeposited loess and red paleosol underlying the loess.
Red clay fissure fillings yield bimodal grain-size distribution curves with maxima
both in the clay and silt fractions. The research reported in this paper identifies
for the first time the presence of eolian deposits in karst fissures of the Carpathian
Basin and investigates the characteristics and origin.
