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Are Chinese loess deposits essentially continuous?
Author(s) -
Zhu Rixiang,
Zhang Rui,
Deng Chenglong,
Pan Yongxin,
Liu Qingsong,
Sun Youbin
Publication year - 2007
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 - 10.1029/2007gl030591
Subject(s) - loess , geology , excursion , glacial period , paleomagnetism , transect , earth's magnetic field , magnetostratigraphy , loess plateau , plateau (mathematics) , geomorphology , geomagnetic reversal , paleontology , physical geography , oceanography , soil science , geography , mathematical analysis , physics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , political science , magnetic field , law
We conducted a paleomagnetic examination of the last glacial loess of three representative profiles along an east‐west transect in the central Loess Plateau in order to assess the continuity of Chinese loess. The results show that the Xifeng and Luochuan profiles record the Laschamp geomagnetic excursion but with different morphologies. Together with the published results from Weinan, southern plateau, our results suggest that sedimentation of the last glacial loess in the central‐southern plateau was continuous at the time scale equivalent to the duration of the Laschamp excursion (∼2 kyr), but probably episodic at finer time scales (<2 kyr). No geomagnetic excursion was found at the Yichuan profile near the Yellow River valley, where loess accumulation may be strongly affected by local environmental changes and thus may have been discontinuous. Both site location and time scale therefore need to be considered when considering continuity of Chinese loess.