This commentary critiques methodological issues in dust accumulation estimates in the Carpathian Basin, suggesting improvements.
This commentary re-evaluates the study by Makó et al. which reconstructs dust accumulation rates from loess–paleosol sequences in the Carpathian Basin. Several methodological and factual issues substantially limit the reliability of their interpretations. The study reports linear sedimentation rates (mm a−1) as mass accumulation rates (MARs) without accounting for bulk density, rendering their values non-comparable with established MAR datasets. It also overlooks a documented systematic bias between 14C and luminescence-derived MARs which are shown to differ by a factor of nearly three in Perić et al., a directly relevant synthesis that is not cited. Furthermore, the conflation of distinct sites (Surduk and Veliki Surduk) and the incorrect attribution of the Surduk section’s location indicate errors in basic site metadata. Together, these issues suggest that the reported “high accumulation axis” may reflect methodological artefacts rather than genuine environmental gradients. Improved methodological transparency and consistency are essential for robust regional reconstructions.
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Perić et al. (2026) studied this question.
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