We report a new relative sea level curve from Inglefield Land, northwest Greenland, to investigate the transition from maximum to minimum loading across Nares Strait. We sampled marine bivalves and terrestrial macrofossils for radiocarbon dating from raised marine terraces in Rensselaer Valley, Inglefield Land (78.58°N, 70.71°W) to constrain relative sea level through the Holocene. The oldest terrestrial macrofossil of 9010–8650 cal yr BP provides a minimum-limiting constraint for the deglaciation. Sea level fell rapidly from the marine limit at 85 ± 4 m to 37.5 ± 4 m above sea level (m asl) between 9010–8650 and 7970–7790 cal yr BP at a rate of 49 m/ka. The rate of sea -level fall decreased to 11 m/ka between 7970–7790 and 5320–5060 cal yr BP, when it fell from 37.5 ± 4 to 9 ± 4 m asl. After 5,320–5,060 cal yr BP, we estimate sea level fell at a lower rate of 2 m/ka to modern sea level. The period of fastest emergence in Inglefield Land is earlier in time than in Hall Land, reflecting earlier deglaciation, and is steeper than in Hall Land and Washington Land. This sea-level history captures the transition from the style of emergence from Pituffik to Hall Land.

Luminescence dating and profiling are important analytical methods for providing chronological constraints and reconstructing depositional histories from sediment cores. However, sediment cores have often been exposed to ionising radiation sources during geophysical analyses, which potentially contaminates natural luminescence signals and may compromise the accuracy and reliability of luminescence analyses. Variable water content down-core is another potential issue for the rapid analysis of sediments, as water attenuates luminescence and may limit the comparability of samples. Here, we use a portable optically stimulated luminescence reader to test the influence of two common geophysical analyses—X-radiography and gamma-ray logging—on the luminescence properties of sediments in marine cores. We demonstrate that both techniques cause negligible changes to luminescence signals with doses <100 mGy. We test the effect of variable water content on luminescence and show that net signals are reduced by up to 70% at 30% moisture, relative to dry sediments. Accurate and reliable luminescence signals can be obtained from sediment cores despite prior exposure to ionising radiation from geophysical loggers or variable water content. However, the accuracy of luminescence measurements does require taking appropriate steps before analysis, like assessing the doses given by geophysical instruments at specific laboratories or drying samples.

The Bohai coast loess deposits hold significant value for understanding climate and sea-level changes. This review analyzes stratigraphic and chronological data and arrives at three main conclusions. (1) Liaodong Peninsula loess is 10–25 m thick, primarily distributed in nearshore bay areas with NW slope aspect. In the Shandong Peninsula coastal zone, thickness measures 5–15 m, showing NW aspect in Penglai but southward in Yantai. Thickness variations correlate with sedimentation rates and underlying terrain gradient, while slope aspects indicate sediment sources and topographic controls. (2) Loess along the Bohai coast rapidly accumulated during 22–31 ka and 61–68 ka, lasting longer (18–70 ka) in the Shandong Peninsula coastal area and the Miaodao Archipelago due to Yellow River input. Around 150 ka, regional differences emerged (e.g., loess in the Shandong Peninsula coastal area and the Miaodao Archipelago experienced rapid deposition at 148–175 ka). Liaodong Peninsula ages before 125 ka are underestimated, likely due to inaccurate quartz dating. (3) The paleosols mainly developed during 4–15 ka, 75–85 ka, 90–100 ka, and 125–130 ka. The Shandong Peninsula coastal area and Miaodao Archipelago show more layers and greater thickness of paleosols compared with the Liaodong Peninsula, which is related to the differences in hydroclimate conditions and loess grain size.

The rainwater basins are northeast-southwest oriented deflation basins on an aeolian sediment–mantled remnant alluvial plain south of the Platte River in central Nebraska. Many of them hold runoff, at least seasonally. Most basins are ovoid, with long axes ranging from 1 to 2.5 km in length, and lunettes are commonly found along their southeastern and/or southern margins that stand 8 to 12 m above basin floors. Core stratigraphy indicates that the basins were eroded from Pleistocene alluvium and aeolian sand and later mantled with loess. Lunettes consist of very fine to medium sand capped by Peoria Loess. We collected 22 optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) samples from lunettes around seven basins and four additional samples from the loess-mantled dunes and sandy alluvium that underlies the Rainwater Basin Plains. OSL dating shows the lunettes were deposited approximately 51 to 20 ka, although most ages lie between 39 and 25 ka. Our chronology shows that the basins and lunettes formed primarily during Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3) when a combination of aridity and intermittent wetter climates facilitated basin deflation and subsequent remodeling by wave activity when the basins held water. The basins and lunettes were subsequently stabilized and mantled by Peoria Loess during MIS 2.

Magnetic susceptibility variations in loess–paleosol successions are widely utilized proxy records for reconstructions of global climate change during the Pleistocene. Analysis of the role of local factors in the establishment of magnetic signatures is rarely addressed. This study compares magnetic records along several adjacent profiles exposed in three open quarries near Kaolinovo (NE Bulgaria). The effect of the position of the sampled locations in the local landscape on the magnetic enhancement is revealed by differences in the thickness and degree of pedogenic magnetic enhancement. The profile, situated in a local paleo-depression, revealed disturbed sedimentation and depletion in the magnetic susceptibility. At lateral distances of 2–3 km (between quarries) the magnetic records show firmly repeatable patterns. Magnetic, geochemical, and diffuse reflectance data demonstrate a trend of increasing content of pedogenic hematites towards older paleosols, while goethite has major contribution to dithionite extractable iron phases. A representative stacked record of magnetic susceptibility for the Kaolinovo site is established using the results from mineralogical analyses. Comparison of the stacked susceptibility record from Kaolinovo with other sites from Bulgaria reveal that loess–paleosol sequences preserve reliable and repeatable magnetic records of global climate change for the last three glacial–interglacial cycles.

Loess–paleosol outcrops were logged and dated to trace loess cover during the Pleistocene in a low-elevation mountainous area. The exposed successions were a maximum of 15 m thick and stratigraphically fragmentary. Still, results suggest that loess was deposited in all climatically suitable periods within the limits of the dating methods (ca. 400 ka), and probably also beyond this. Luminescence measurements provided numerical ages from ca. 18 ka to ca. 200 ka and minimum ages of up to >267 ka. Loess accumulation was also active during the relatively mild MIS 3. A new occurrence of a well-preserved Quaternary tephra was documented, correlative with the middle Pleistocene Bag Tephra (ca. 340 or 368 ka). The dating of loess successions provided valuable data on geomorphic evolution as well, identifying hydrological changes and constraining a maximum incision and uplift rate of 0.008–0.035 mm/yr for the western part of the area. The low thickness of loess–paleosol successions and the stratigraphic gaps seem to be a consequence of repeated erosion during the Pleistocene rather than a result of non-deposition. The mountains probably have been covered with loess for most of the time during the past 1 Ma. This should be taken into consideration in studies influenced by the loess cover of an area.