Exposure Age Dating of Strath Terraces in the Danube Bend

Detailed description of the geology, topography and terraces of the Danube Bend was presented in Chapter 3. “Traditional” terrace ages concerning this area were derived from “relevant” data of the neighbouring valley sections, as lack of datable material prevented the Danube Bend terraces from setting up a more reliable chronological frame. Application of a new dating method was necessary to quantify the age of the terraces in the Danube Bend. In this chapter the combination of geomorphology and terrestrial in situ produced cosmogenic He analysis is used to define exposure ages of terrace abandonment. The main goal of this study is to constrain the rate of river incision and, consequently, rate of tectonic uplift. The first part of this chapter describes the sampling strategy, sample preparation and experimental bases of He exposure age dating. Afterwards, analytical results are discussed in the context of He exposure ages and interpreted with emphasize on implications for the incision of the Danube and uplift of the HMR. The effects of erosion that probably affected most of the sampling sites are constrained. The cosmogenic data set is compared to the “traditional” terrace ages and possibilities of climatic forcing of terrace formation are examined. Results of He exposure age dating were published by Ruszkiczay-Rüdiger et al. (2005b).