Elsevier, Quaternary Science Reviews, (131), p. 127-147
DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.10.041
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© 2015 Elsevier Ltd.The terrace sequence of the Hungarian part of the Danube valley preserves a record of varying tectonic uplift rates along the river course and throughout several climate stages. To establish the chronology of formation of these terraces, two different dating methods were used on alluvial terraces: exposure age dating using in situ produced cosmogenic 10Be and luminescence dating. Using Monte Carlo approach to model the denudation rate-corrected exposure ages, in situ produced cosmogenic 10Be samples originated from vertical depth profiles enabled the determination of both the exposure time and the denudation rate. Post-IR IRSL measurements were carried out on K-feldspar samples to obtain the ages of sedimentation.The highest terrace horizon remnants of the study area provided a best estimate erosion-corrected minimum 10Be exposure age of \textgreater700 ka. We propose that the abandonment of the highest terrace of the Hungarian Danube valley was triggered by the combined effect of the beginning tectonic uplift and the onset of major continental glaciations of Quaternary age (around MIS 22). For the lower terraces it was possible to reveal close correlation with MIS stages using IRSL ages. The new chronology enabled the distinction of tIIb (~90 ka; MIS 5b-c) and tIIIa (~140 ka; MIS 6) in the study area. Surface denudation rates were well constrained by the cosmogenic 10Be depth profiles between 5.8 m/Ma and 10.0 m/Ma for all terraces. The calculated maximum incision rates of the Danube relevant for the above determined \textgreater700 ka time span were increasing from west (\textless0.06 mm/a) to east (\textless0.13 mm/a), toward the more elevated Transdanubian Range. Late Pleistocene incision rates derived from the age of the low terraces (~0.13-0.15 mm/a) may suggest a slight acceleration of uplift towards present.