The tectonic uplift of the Hua Shan in the Cenozoic

Six granite samples were collected from six difference elevation locations at the Hua Shan in a main ridge of the Qinling Mountain. Apatite and zircon separated from these six samples were dated by the fission track technique. An assessment of the Cenozoic uplift or exhumation rate was obtained from the altitude difference of sampling samples dated by fission track, and from the difference of fission track dates of both apatite and zircon for a sample. The preliminary results suggest that the beginning of uplift of the Hua Shan was as early as 68.2 MaBP and the uplift rates for different periods are 0.02-0.19 mm/a (from the elevation difference) or 0.12-0.16 mm/a (from two mineral fission track dates). The average uplift rate is 0.12 mm/a (from the elevation difference) or 0.14 mm/a (from two mineral fission track dates). The uplift of the Hua Shan might accelerate since (17.8±2.0) MaBP, and the average uplift rate is about 0.19 mm/a.

Fine grain IRSL and GLSL dating of late Quaternary sediments from North China

A possible approach to assess the fine grain OSL dating is discussed through comparison of equivalent dose (DE) values and ages obtained by IRSL and GLSL of fine grains for 31 sediment samples from North China. The IRSL and GLSL were measured with the same aliquots for each sample, i.e. shine-down was by 100 s of IRSL (880 nm) followed by 100 s of GLSL (514 nm) on the same discs. The DE values and ages found by IRSL are in good agreement with those by GLSL within 1-2σ for 80% samples, especially for aeolian loess samples. Considering that IRSL from feldspar differs obviously from GLSL dominated from quartz in dose response, thermal stability and optical bleaching characteristic, the agreement between the DE values may be taken as evidence that the two clocks of IRSL and GLSL had been well reset during deposition. The consistent ages of IRSL and GLSL, in turn, may be referred to an indicator to evaluate the fine grain OSL dating of sediments.

Chronology of the stratum containing the skull of the Dali Man

The field investigations of geomorphology and Quaternary sediment sequences show that the sediment stratigraphic profile containing the skull of the Homo sapiens Daliensis (Dali Man) at Tianshuigou trench, Jiefang Village (109°44’E, 34°52’N ), Dali County, Shaanxi Province, is composed of the loess-paleosol sequence, 17.3 m thick, in the upper part, and the alluvial silts, fine sands and sandy gravels interbedded, 15.4 m thick, in the lower part. There are the well developed layers L1, S1, L2 and S2 in the loess-paleosol sequence of the profile, which are comparable to those of the Luochuan loess section on the basis of magnetic succeptibility measurements and IRSL dating of the loess samples. An alluvial gravel layer, where the skull of the Dali Man was discovered, is in 13 m beneath the bottom of paleosol S2, implying that, the age of the Dali Man must be older than about 247 kaBP when the paleosol S2 began to be developed. The samples of mammal animal tooth and shell fossils from the gravel layer