Thick Miocene eolian deposits on the Huajialing Mountains:The geomorphic evolution of the western Loess Plateau

The geomorphic evolution of northwestern China during the Cenozoic has been a subject of much geological interest because of its link with the uplift of the Himalayan-Tibetan complex.Much information about these changes is recoverable from the sedimentary sequences of the region.We report here on the thick eolian deposits mantling the Huajialing Mountains,a relatively flat mountain range in the western Loess Plateau.Correlation of magnetic susceptibility stratigraphy with the QA-I Miocene eolian sequence dates a 134.7 m section(NL-VII) for the interval from 18.7 to 11.8 Ma,as confirmed by micro-mammalian fossils.These eolian deposits demonstrate a much wider distribution of the Miocene eolian deposits,and also indicate that the topography contrasts in the western Loess Plateau,including the uplifts of the Huajialing Mountains and the bedrock highlands in the Qinan region,were formed by the early Miocene.The near-continuous Miocene eolian sequence from 18.7 to 11.8 Ma indicates that the substratum of Huajialing had not experienced any intense tectonic changes during this time interval,which suggests further,the relative tectonic stability of the nearby Tibetan Plateau.

天水-秦安一带中新世黄土堆积区沉积-地貌演化

前人的构造地质学研究,将天水-秦安一带的中新世黄土分布区划归两个不同的构造单元。文章基于野外调查和已有年代地层学工作,结合前人成果,对该区新生代沉积-地貌演化历史进行研究,并划分为以下主要阶段:1)古近纪初南部秦岭山地的剥蚀,使本区在原有基岩准平原地形的基础上,形成以冲洪积平原为主的地形。古近纪末-新近纪初的构造活动使冲洪积平原解体,在秦安地区形成基岩台地与沉陷盆地相间、天水-西和地区形成拉分盆地与隆起山地交错的地貌景观,这些高地为中新世黄土堆积提供了地形基础。2)中新世从22Ma到11Ma,基岩台地和相对平缓的高地上堆积典型黄土-古土壤序列,盆地内则主要发育次生黄土等洼地沉积,表明研究区类似于今天的黄土高原。3)中新世晚期约11Ma起发生的一次侵蚀事件,使研究区的一些小盆地内发育河流相和间歇性浅湖相沉积,秦安一带的黄土堆积也遭到侵蚀,形成的洼地内发育黄土状土或洼地静水沉积,其中包含较多哺乳动物化石,而大范围的相对平坦高地上一直继续发育黄土-古土壤序列。这次侵蚀对本区内甘肃群的沉积多样性有重要贡献,但一直没有深水湖泊发育的条件。4)发生于3.5Ma以后的另一次重大侵蚀,奠定了该区今天狭窄长墚地形的基础,是第四纪黄土堆积在本区保存较差的主要原因。