Loess–palaeosol sequences (LPSs) represent continental and non-aquatic archives providing detailed information on Quaternary environmental and climate changes. We present an integrative approach combining sedimentological, rock magnetic, and bulk geochemical data, as well as information on Sr and Nd isotope composition. The approach adds to a comprehensive understanding of LPS formation including changes in dust composition and associated circulation patterns during Quaternary climate changes.

We reconstructed a wetland environment for a late Middle to Upper Pleniglacial (approx. 30–20 ka) loess sequence in western Germany. Typically, these sequences reveal terrestrial conditions with soil formation processes during this time frame. The here-investigated section, however, was influenced by periodical flooding, leading to marshy conditions and a stressed ecosystem. Our results show that the landscape of the study area was much more fragmented during this time than previously thought.

Glacial trimlines are visible breaks in vegetation or landforms that mark the former extent of glaciers. They are often observed as faint lines running across valley sides and are useful for mapping the three-dimensional shape of former glaciers or for assessing by how much present-day glaciers have thinned and retreated. Here we present the first application of a new trimline classification scheme to a case study location in central western Spitsbergen, Svalbard.

The Miaoli Tableland (northwestern Taiwan) consists of a sequence of fine-grained tidal to coarse fluvial late Quaternary sediments which underwent a spatially differentiated uplift and fluvial dissection. They reveal repeated rework processes of fluvial cobbles from the highlands to the coast. A new landform classification based on high-resolution 3D terrain analysis results in a new interpretation of the landform evolution. The results favour a local rarely used Quaternary stratigraphic code.

A main element in Büdel's concept is his quite provocative link between climate zones and geomorphological processes, a strong relation which was frequently contested later. Büdel's contribution is still relevant in modern times as the present-day climatic change will probably also invoke a poleward shift of climatic zones, accompanied by associated shifts in geomorphological environments and ecosystems.