Banerjee 9526827 Three loess regions in central Europe, central North America, and Alaska have been selected for a multi-proxy investigation with a strong magnetic component in a study for rapid and sensitive measurements of late Pleistocene climate change. Such a comparative, within-region and between-regions investigation is necessary for continental areas. We can then compare such data with the more numerous oceanic and ice-core records to test the validity of both the gradual and abrupt climate change history suggested for the last 130,000 years in the Northern Hemisphere. Preliminary magnetic studies of the periglacial loess profiles suggest that signatures of wind strength, source aridity, and in situ oxidation or reduction can be separated through the use of multiple magnetic proxies. Such proxies will then be validated by coulometric carbon, elemental analysis, grain-size measurements, and Mossbauer spectra.
