A preliminary study of the quantitative couplingbetween loess-paleosol sequences and summermon soon changes

The Loess Plateau-Northeastern Tibetan Plateau in China is famous for its deep andcontmuous distributed loess, in which soils (developed from loess) vary gradually with differentbiological climates changing from subhumid to arid, which provide a natural proving ground forstUd}' the coupling of loess-paleosol and climatic changes quantitatively. Thirty-two sections weresampled (collected) for measuring chemical element contents, clay content (and other items) and 60sections were collected for carbonate analysis to establish transfer functions between pedogenesisand climate. Finally, we estimated the paleoclAnate (P/T) in the region with transfer functions,It isrevealed that the variation of paleocldriate reflected by transfer functions accorded closely with theclimatic pattern resulted from recent work. Specifically, it was about 140 ha BP that summermonsoon reached Lanzhou or further, paleosol S1 (equaling to MIS 5 in deep sea records) developedstrongly in a large scale, even touching upon northeanstern Tibetan Plateau. And, the estimated P/Tinformation also indicated the cold and humid period during 50-30 ka BP, mean annual Precipitationwas about 400-500 nun in Angutan recorded by mega-interstadial paleosol Sm.

Red Ratings for Loess-Paleosol Sequences on China’s Loess Plateau and Their Paleo-Climatic Implications

Comparisons of red ratings (RR) with Fe_d, Fe_d/Fet, clay content, andmagnetic susceptibility (x) of two loess-paleosol sequences at Luochuan and Lingtai on China's LoessPlateau were conducted to study the possible relationship between RR and pedogenic degrees of thetwo loess-paleosol sequences, and to discuss whether the RR could become new paleo-climaticindicators. Results showed that the RR of the two loess-paleosol sequences had positive, highlysignificant (P < 0.01) correlations with: 1) citrate-bicarbonate-dithionite (CBD) extracted iron(Fe_d), 2) ratios of CBD extracted iron to total iron (Fe_d/Fet), 3) clay (< 2 mum), and 4) magneticsusceptibility (x). This suggested that the RR of these loess-paleosol sequences could indicatedegreesof loess weathering and pedogenesis and were potential paleo-climatic proxies. The strongcorrelations of RR to Fe_d and x also implied that during pedogenic processes, pedogenic hematite inloess and paleosols were closely related to the amount of total secondary iron oxides and pedogenicferrimagnetic minerals (predominantly maghemite).

Major elements in the Holocene loess-paleosol sequence in the upper reaches of the Weihe River valley,China

Palaeohydmlogical investigations were carried out in the Guchuan Basin in the upper reaches of the Weihe River valley, China. A set of palaeoflood slackwater deposits （SWDs） was found interbedded in the Holocene Ioess-paleosol sequence at the Guchuanzhen site （GCZ）. These palaeoflood SWDs were studied by field observations and laboratory analyses including concentrations of chemical elements and optically stimulated luminescence （OSL） dating. The results showed that the palaeoflood SWDs were the result of the secondary separations of the surface soil and weathered soil layers during the process of water transport and deposition, and without obvious weathering during soil development. These extraordinary flood events were dated back to 3,200-3,000 a B.P. with the OSL method and checked by archaeological dating of the human remains retrieved from the profile. These extraordinary flood events were therefore considered as regional expression of known climatic events and demonstrated the climatic instability in the Holocene. This result is important for understanding the effects of global climate change on the dynamics of river systems.

Mobility Sequence of Chemical Elements During Loess Weathering-Pedogenesis, Weinan, Shaanxi Province, China

The distribution of chemical elements in the Weinan loess section shows that: (1) carbonate is the critical constituent affecting loess chemistry. The leaching of carbonates may cause \!apparent" enrichment of some other constituents. (2) CaCO\-3, SiO\-2, FeO, MgO, K\-2O and Na\-2O are mobile while Al\-2O\-3, Fe\-2O\-3 and TiO\-2 are inert components. The mobility sequence may follow the order of CaCO\-3>FeO>MgO>Na\-2O>K\-2O>SiO\-2>Al\-2O\-3>TiO\-2>Fe\-2O\-3. (3) No obvious migration is noticed of iron, except changes in valence and forms, during the pedogenic process. Little iron has been supplied to paleosol from precipitation. (4) Carbonates and, to a lesser extent, iron are most sensitive to, and can be therefore used as good indicators of, environmental changes.

Mineral Composition of Loess-Paleosol Samplesfrom the Loess Plateau of China and Its Environmental Significance

34 samples of loess-paleosol from the Luochuan and kifeng sections in the Loess Plateau, north-ern China were separated into sand, silt and clay fractions and analyzed for their mineral composi -tions. The results indicate that there is almost no difference between loess and paleosol in mineralcomposition. Major mineral species are quartz, mica, feIdspar and chlorite, accounhng for about88-92% of the total, other minerals are kandite, smectite, vermiculite and a few heavy minerals. Thecalcite, magnetite and hematite were not taken into consideration because of their removal in the pro-cess of sample preparation. The main difference with respect to the mineral composition of samplescollected from different sections and different stratigraphic leveIs lies in the amount and grain sise ofminerals hosted. Comparisons between the Luochuan section and the kifeng section, between paleosoland loess and between the upper part and the lower part of some paleosol layers show that the for-mers contain less feldspar but more mica and vermiculite and are finer in grain sise, indicahng theco-occurrence of both biochemical weathering process responsible for mineral change and physicalweathering process leading to grain-stie change during the soiI-forming processes. This result favourssuch an explanation of the soi1-forming mechanism that loess deposition and paleosol developmentoccurred synchronously, though the rate of soil formation was greater than that of loess deposition,thus leading to soil development.

The incorporation of thermal methods in mineral magnetism of loess-paleosol sequences: a brief overview

The advantages of thermal methods for mineral-magnetic research of loess/paleosolsequences are illustrated in an introductory overview. When applying thermal methods, magnetiteand maghemite can be distinguished, something which is difficult with field-dependentmeasurements at room temperature. Also, variable low-temperature oxidation that is related toclimate may be quantified. Thirdly, grain-size estimates pertaining to the whole superparamagneticrange can be inferred from LT warming experiments and to a lesser extent from variable chemicalalteration during heating. Application of mineral-magnetic techniques may lead to thedevelopment of quantifiable proxy parameters for paleoclimate.

Geochemical studies on the intensity of chemical weathering in Luochuan loess-paleosol sequence, China

Major and trace element analyses of the Luochuan loess-paleosol sequence in China were performed in order to understand the cheniical weathering processes occurring on the I.oess Plateau during the last 600 ka. Results reveal that most elements in the loess remain immobile durlng chemical weathering. The typical stable elements are Al, K, Ti, Rb and REE, while the main mobile elements are Ca, Sr, P, Mg and Na. 120ess and paleosol experience the incipient stage of chemical weathering characterized by acid leaching and carbonate dissolution. Alteration of silicates in the sequence seems to be limited. Features of less chemical weathering of the loess and paleosol could he indicators for the dry-cold clinlate dominated on the Loess Plateau during the Quaternary.

Micromorphology of the loess-paleosol sequence of the last 130 ka in China and paleoclimatic events

The Late Quaternary loess-soil sequences in Xifeng, Luochuan and Weinan are studied to investigate the micromorphology of both loess and paleosols. Many features have clear climatic implications and may be used as indications for morpho-stratigraphic and climatic correlation. The temporal and spatial variations of these features allow us to define 16 climatic events for the last 130 ka, which are highly consistent with the variations in palco-weathering intensity. Part of these events are attributable to the orbital forcing while others are more or less synchronous with the Heinrich events recorded in the North Atlantic Ocean. During the last events, the Loess Plateau was characterized by sparse vegetation cover and strong winds while the climatic conditions between these events were considerably humid, resulting in a significant steppe cover.

Loess-paleosol sequence on Loess Plateau and uplift of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau

Correlation of the loess-paleosol sequence on Loess Plateau and the tectonodimatic cycle it reflects with the moraine-paleosol sequence on Qingbai-Xizang Plateau and the uplift process it reflects, indicates that both sequences are synchronous to each other on phase variation with a quasi-period of 0.4 Ma, i.e. the eccentricity variation period. The response of the variation of the Asian paleomonsoon and the paleoclimatic change to the uplift stages and altitudes and the underlying surfaces is studied.

THE CARBONATE ISOTOPIC COMPOSITION OF THE LOESS-PALEOSOL SEQUENCE AND ITS IMPLICATION OF PALEOCLIMATIC CHANGE

The isotopic composition of soil or paleosol carbonate can be a sensitive paleoclimatic indicator. The relationships between the oxygen isotopic composition of modem soil carbonates and that of meteoric waters and between the carbon isotopic composition of the soil carbonates and the fraction of the plants using the C4 photosynthetic pathway in

THE SEQUENCE OF HYDROGENIC SEDIMENTS-PALEOSOLS IN THE LOESS PLATEAU AND ITS ADJACENT REGIONS OF CHINA

Changes in global climate have a positive effect on the changes in hydrologic cycle, and leave their traces in the cycles of hydrogenic sediments and geomorphic evolutions. It is possible to explain the law of the climate change and tectonic movement in the course of the environmental evolutions during the Quaternary by way of identifying the different cycles and ages of hydrogenic sediments in each geomorphic period. This study is very much

Rb and Sr Geochemical Characterization of the Chinese Loess Stratigraphy and Its Implications for Palaeomonsoon Climate

Concentrations and distributions of Rb and Sr in loess and palaeosol samples from the Luochuan profile have been studied, in grain-size fractions and chemical forms. Results show that Rb is quite rich in the fraction of less than 2 μm, and exits only in the residual phase, while Sr is distributed in sand and silt fractions, occurring in the residual and carbonate phases. Therefore, variations of the concentrations of Rb and Sr in loess and palaeosols are closely related not only to dustfall compositions depending on winter monsoon wind strength but also to summer monsoon-induced pedogenic intensity. This indicates that variations of Rb/Sr ratio in Chinese loess sequences represent cyclic alternations of East Asian summer and winter monsoon climates on the orbital time-scale. Variations in Sr concentrations along the sequence bear a high similarity to the oxygen isotope record of the deep sea sediments over the past 2.5 Ma, whereas variations in Rb concentrations are in good agreement with the record of magnetic susceptibility determined with the duplicated samples from the same profile. This suggests that (1) the high-latitude ice volume is responsible for East Asian monsoon variations and (2) the signal of magnetic susceptibility depends dominantly on pedogenesis in Chinese loess sequences.

Mid-Late Quaternary loess-paleosol sequence in Lantian's Yushan,China:An environmental magnetism approach and its paleoclimatic significance

The application of rock magnetism methods to investigating the variations of magnetic minerals in the sediments is an important approach to the reestablishment of paleoclimate evolution. Thus we performed fine magnetic measurements on the loess-paleosol sequence (from L15 upwards to S5, in which L is short for Loess, S is short for Paleosol, the same hereinafter) of Yushan strati-graphic section, which is on the southeastern margin of Chinese Loess Plateau, in Lantian County of China's Shaanxi Province, and the thickness of which is ca. 40 m. Our study shows that the primary magnetic carriers of loess and paleosol in this section are magnetite, maghemite, hematite and goethite. Thermomagnetic analyses on the samples of representative horizons show that the higher pedogenesis degree of the sediments, the smaller variations of magnetization there will be before and after heating, probably related to the pedogenic alteration of loess sediments. Analyses of several magnetic parameters show a significant discrepancy between the paleoclimatic conditions recorded in the strata from the loess unit L15 upward to the paleosol unit S5 in the study area and those recorded in the relative strata of other sections on the Chinese Loess Plateau, and those recorded in marine sediments, indicating the great impact of regional geological background. Similarly, the rapid and intensive change recorded in the segment from L15 to S9-1, and the significant difference between the paleoclimate evolutions of the two periods before and after the change (from L15 to S9-1, and from L9 to the base of S6) indicate the strong alteration of magnetic carriers in the study area as a result of the alternations of summer and winter monsoons in East Asia.

Environmental magnetism and paleoclimatic interpretation of the Sanmenxia loess-paleosol sequence in the southeastern extremity of the Chinese Loess Plateau

这是多参数矿物质的一份报告在在间隔 ofL1 上的中国黄土高原(CLP ) 的 SE 极限的 Sanmenxialoess-paleosol 两行诗的磁性的结果 - 跨越最后 1 个妈的 L13。这些结果显示出那团特定的磁性的危险性(x) ， Xarm 和 SIRM，他们的比率展出平行 stratigraphic 变化。Sincesuperparamagnetic (SP ) 粒子有重要贡献到到顽磁的 X 而是没有贡献，例如，手臂和 SIRM，在 x 之间的强壮的线性关联一(i 顽磁(例如， ARMand SIRM ) 建议生产成土作用的磁性的谷物是主要在里面小单个领域范围。因而，到想在以前的研究的体积 x 的 SP 粒子的重要贡献显然被过高估计。在 Sanmenxia 和中部的谷物尺寸的 2arm/X 数据从 CLP 显示的内地典型黄土节记录强壮的相似，暗示 Jarm/X 可以为监视变化 offerrimagnetic 谷物被认为是可靠指示物缩放。S 比率和 HIRM 的结果((SIRM+IRM_(.3T ))/2 ) 大小显示在与成土作用联系的 paleosols 有软磁铁矿 / 磁赤铁矿和 hardhematite/goethite 的重要改进。

Millennial-scale monsoonal climatic change from paleosol sequences on the Chinese western Loess Plateau and Tibetan Plateau: a brief summary and review

This paper summarizes the work from the INQUA 1997 Project "Response of soilformation to short-warm-episodes of Asian summer monsoon" and its seeded related internationaland domestic grants. It reviews the effects of the millennial monsoonal changes on the loess-paleosols of the Chinese Loess and Tibetan Plateaus. High-resolution proxy records ofpedogenesis and monsoons demonstrate that both Asian winter and summer monsoons wereunstable and synchronously and inversely coupled during the last glaciation. During that timerapid episodic cycles of cold surges and warm enhancements spanned only ca. 1-2 ka in high-frequency domain. Sub-Milankovitch cycles (6-8 ka) of progressive cooling or weakening in low-frequency domain generally resembled the pattern of the North Atlantic climatic change. However,during the last interglacial, Asian winter and summer monsoons seemed to vary independently, theformer being stable and the later unstable. Soil formation seems to occur in surprisingly fastresponse to the summer monsoon warm enhancements, resulting in weakly or moderatelydeveloped paleosol sequences. North Atlantic and polar cold air surges though the westerlies andother paths, and the north-south swing of the westerlies beside the Tibetan Plateau, may be thealternative mechanisms for the rapid monsoonal changes during the last glacial. But in the lastinterglacial, the summer monsoons worked largely independently.

Variation of soil Δδ^(13)C values in Xifeng loess-paleosol sequence and its paleoenvironmental implication

The carbon isotopic compositions of soil organic matter (SOM) and total carbonate (TC) in Xifeng loess-paleosol sequence have been studied. The δ 13CSOM values vary from ?23.8‰ to ?20.2‰, which are higher in interglacial than in glacial stages. Contrary to δ 13CSOM values, the δ 13CTC values vary from ?8.5‰ to ?3.6‰ and are lower in interglacial than in glacial stages. The differences (?δ 13C) be- tween the δ 13CSOM and δ 13CTC values vary from 14.1‰ to 19.4‰. Our results from the Xifeng loess- paleosol sequence indicate that the ?δ 13C values represent the ratio of primary carbonate (PC) to secondary carbonate (SC). The ?δ 13C values were high in the loess stages, and the maximal PC-to-SC ratio can reach 6:4. But in the paleosol stages, the ?δ 13C values were low, with a small proportion of PC. The ?δ 13C values in loess-paleosol sequence also indicate the contributions of the dust to the loess sediment in the Chinese Loess Plateau because the dust contains the PC.

Paleo-environmental study on the growth of magnetotactic bacteria and precipitation of magnetosomes in Chinese loess-paleosol sequences

405 samples were collected from L5-S5-L6 in consideration of obvious variations in susceptibility of the geological sections, which are section Xifeng in Gansu Province and section Duanjiapo in Shaanxi Province for study of magnetotactic bacteria (MB) and magnetosomes (MS) in Chinese loess-paleosol sequences. MB in each sample were observed by TEM after being cultured under 8-18℃, room temperature (RT), 25℃, 26℃ and 30℃ conditions. In general, MB are distributed widely in loess-paleosol sequences, fewer in loess layers with predomination of vibriod in shape. However, there are more MB in paleosol layers with morphological varieties such as roddish, vibriod and occasionally approximately coccus. The magnetosomes (MS) in MB of paleosol are usually arranged in chains along the cells. It was also found that MB growth and MS formation are associated with the environment in which MB live. It can be inferred from the distributions of MB and MS that the paleoclimates fluctuated during the formation of

Progress of loess research in China

Progress in Chinese loess research made in recent 15 years was introduced in this paper, including mainly distribution and paleoenvironment significance of Chinese loess, new development of loess formation age, red-brown paleosol types and environmental change, loess-paleosol sequence and climate cycles, monsoon strength change during last interglacial and last glacial periods in the Loess Plateau, climate events, and source areas of loess and material.

Helium isotope investigation on magnetic reversal boundaries of loess-paleosol sequence at Luochuan, central Chinese Loess Plateau

Extraterrestrial particles have higher 3He/4He ratios than those of terrestrial sediments ( > 100 Ra versus < 0.03 Ra, where Ra is the 3He/4He ratio normalized to the atmospheric value of 1.4×10?6). The inter- planetary dust particles (IDPs), which are very rich in 3He, continuously bombard the Earth and can accumulate in deposits. IDPs sedimentation rate changes can significantly influence 3He concentration in the Earth surface sediments. Since IDPs are not easy to detect in terrestrial deposits, measuring helium isotopes is a helpful approach to examine changes in IDPs. Helium concentration and helium isotopic composition magnetic substances and the quartz particles were examined for helium concen- tration and helium isotopic ratio. Results show that the 3He/4He ratio and the 3He concentrations of the magnetic substances are clearly higher than those of the bulk samples and the quartz particles, and, the 3He/4He ratio of the extracted magnetic substances is also higher than that of the average level of the Earth’s crust. The higher helium content in the magnetic fractions can be explained by an influx of IDPs.