Aeolian dust dynamics in the Fergana Valley, Central Asia, since -30 ka inferred from loess deposits

Knowledge of the interactions among atmospheric dynamics,dust emissions and climate system is essential to understand the physical mechanisms for the dust lifecycle,their role in loess formation as well as the predictions of future dust concentration.However,these issues still remain relatively poorly known in Central Asia(CA).The extensive loess deposits on the CA pediments provide a promising archive to explore atmospheric dust dynamics and climatic conditions in the past and their association with loess formation.This study investigates the granulometric and magnetic properties of a loess section(named Osh section)in the Fergana Valley,which provides a sensitive record of atmospheric dust dynamics since 30 ka based on radiometric(AMS ^(14)C)dating.The frequency-dependent magnetic susceptibility(χfd)and the mean grain size are used to reconstruct the broadscale effective moisture and summer atmospheric dynamics pattern in CA,respectively.The results show that the precession forcing exerts a huge influence on the wind-regime variabilities in CA,but with different physical processes under the impact of the Northern Hemisphere ice sheet(NHIS)before and after 15 ka.The origin of the sedimentation rate variations in the Osh loess is also linked to the NHIS-modulated changes of the atmospheric circulation patterns.Either the strengthened westerlies or the increased surface roughness from higher vegetation cover in loess-deposition areas have significantly accelerated the loess accumulation.As a result,these complicated influence factors of sedimentation rate change in the Osh loess section,especially during the Holocene epoch,may hamper accessibility of the authentic dust emission flux and atmospheric dust concentration in CA.

西宁盆地新生代磁性地层研究新进展

西宁盆地是青藏高原向东北扩展生长的“前哨”,也是东亚季风湿润气候向中亚内陆干旱气候过渡的核心地带.盆地内堆积了厚层、几乎连续的以细粒河湖相为主的新生代沉积物,含有丰富的哺乳动物化石,尤以中国早中新世标准动物群—谢家动物群而著名.顶部河流阶地上覆盖了厚层风成粉尘堆积,它们详细记录了亚洲内陆干旱和东亚季风演化、动植物演替以及黄河形成与高原隆升过程等重要信息.

Paleogeography control of Indian monsoon intensification and expansion at 41 Ma

As a crucial part of the Asian monsoon stretching from tropical India to temperate East Asia, the Indian monsoon(IM) contributes predominant precipitation over Asian continent. However, our understanding of IM’s onset, development and the underlying driving mechanisms is limited. Increasing evidence indicates that the IM began in the Eocene or even the Paleocene and was unexceptionally linked to the early rise of the Tibetan Plateau(TP). These were challenged by the heterogeneous and diachronous uplift of the TP and all the reported records were confined to tropical zone under tropical monsoon driven by the Intertropical Convergence Zone(ITCZ) that is irrelevant to the TP. Therefore, reliable paleoclimatic records from the extra-tropical IM region is crucial to reveal how the tropical IM expanded to subtropical and temperate zones and what driving factors might be related to it. Here we present robust Eocene paleoenvironmental records from central Yunnan(~26°N) in subtropical East Asia. The multiproxy results of two sites demonstrate a consistent sudden switch from a dry environment in the early Eocene to a seasonally wet one at 41 Ma, suggesting a jump of the tropical IM to the southern subtropical zone at 41 Ma.The full collision of India with Asia, and the resulting changes in paleogeography at 41 Ma(closure of the Neotethys sea, retreat of the Paratethys seas, fast northward movement of the southern margin of the TP and rise of the central TP), aided by synchronous Antarctic cooling, might have worked together to drive the IM enhancement and northward expansion.

New insights on the age of the Mengyejing Formation in the Simao Basin,SE Tethyan domain and its geological implications

Knowledge on the origin and mechanism of the large potash formation in the southeast Tethyan tectonic domain are still under debate,one of which mainly due to the controversial ages of the potash-bearing strata.Here we present a detailed detrital zircon U-Pb geochronologic-magnetostratigraphic study of the potash-bearing Mengyejing(MYJ)Formation(Fm)from the Simao Basin.948 paleomagnetic cores and 4 detrital zircon U-Pb samples were collected from a 932-m thick Jiangcheng section.Thermal demagnetization isolated 857 primary characteristic remnant magnetization(ChRM)directions,indicated by positive reversals and fold tests and petrologic examinations.Seven normal and seven reversed polarity zones were identified and correlated well with chrons C27r to C34n of the geomagnetic polarity timescale(GPTS2012),yielding the first known age sequence of>112 to~63 Ma for the MYJ Fm.The ages for the potash bearing strata in the Simao commenced~20 Ma earlier than those in the adjacent Khorat basins,opposite to the traditional viewpoint that the former would rather correspond to the middle and lower parts of the latter.Given the paleogeographic reconstruction of likely a pan-Simao-Khorat basin during the Cretaceous,~85 Ma would be another important potential period for future potash exploration in the Simao Basin.