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Paleoclimatic significance of the temperature‐dependent susceptibility of Holocene Loess along a NW‐SE transect in the Chinese Loess Plateau
Author(s) -
Deng Chenglong,
Zhu Rixiang,
Verosub K. L.,
Singer M. J.,
Yuan Baoyin
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2000gl008462
Subject(s) - loess , pedogenesis , maghemite , geology , transect , paleosol , holocene , magnetite , geochemistry , geomorphology , soil science , soil water , paleontology , oceanography
We have conducted mineral magnetic investigations of samples of modern dune sand, pristine loess and present‐day loess along a NW‐SE transect from the northern to the central loess plateau in China. The methods used include the temperature‐dependence of susceptibility (TDS) before and after citrate‐bicarbonate‐dithionite (CBD) treatment as well as X‐ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The XRD analyses demonstrate that magnetite and hematite both exist in the Chinese loess‐paleosol sequence and its modem source area, but the TDS measurements show that magnetite is the predominant contributor to magnetic susceptibility. Maghemite is present in the pristine loess and the present‐day loess due to pedogenesis. The pedogenic processes that produce the maghemite are closely linked to paleoclimate, and for this transect, precipitation appears to be the most important climatic variable. We suggest that TDS can be used as a useful method for the analysis of pedogenesis and climatic change.