Magnetic parameter variations in the Chaona loess/paleosol sequences in the central Chinese Loess Plateau, and their significance for the middle Pleistocene climate transition

2014 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 433-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yougui Song ◽  
Xiaomin Fang ◽  
John W. King ◽  
Jijun Li ◽  
Ishikawa Naoto ◽  
...  

AbstractA high-resolution rock magnetic investigation was performed on the Chaona Quaternary loess/paleosol sequences in the Central Chinese Loess Plateau. Based on a newly developed independent unturned time scale and magnetic records, we reconstructed the history of the East Asia monsoons during the last 3 Ma and explored the middle Pleistocene climate transition (MPT). Rock magnetic results show that the loess layers are characterized by relatively high coercivity and remanent coercivity, lower magnetic susceptibility (MS), and that the paleosol layers are characterized by relatively high MS, saturation magnetization and remanent saturation magnetization. Spectrum analyses indicate that there are various periods in addition to orbital periodicities. According to the onset and stable appearance of 100 kyr period, we consider that the MPT recorded in this section began at ~ 1.26 Ma and was completed by ~ 0.53 Ma, which differs from previous investigations based on orbitally tuned time scales. The forcing mechanism for the MPT was more complicated than just the orbital forcing. We conclude that the rapid uplift of the Tibetan Plateau may have played an important role in the shift of periodicities during the middle Pleistocene.

2017 ◽  
Vol 89 (3) ◽  
pp. 619-628 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong Ao ◽  
Mark J. Dekkers ◽  
Andrew P. Roberts ◽  
Eelco J. Rohling ◽  
Zhisheng An ◽  
...  

AbstractPre-Quaternary terrestrial climate variability is less well understood than that during the Quaternary. The continuous eolian Red Clay sequence underlying the well-known Quaternary loess-paleosol sequence on the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) provides an opportunity to study pre-Quaternary terrestrial climate variability in East Asia. Here, we present new mineral magnetic records for a recently found Red Clay succession from Shilou area on the eastern CLP, and demonstrate a marked East Asian climate shift across the Miocene-Pliocene boundary (MPB). Pedogenic fine-grained magnetite populations, ranging from superparamagnetic (SP)/single domain (SD) up to small pseudo-single domain (PSD) sizes (i.e., from <30 nm up to ~1000 nm), dominate the magnetic properties. Importantly, our mineral magnetic results indicate that both pedogenic formation of SP grains and transformation of SP grains to SD and small PSD grains accelerated across the MPB in the Shilou Red Clay, which are indicative of enhanced pedogenesis. We relate this enhanced pedogenesis to increased soil moisture availability on the CLP, associated with stronger Asian Summer Monsoon precipitation during an overall period of global cooling. Our study thus provides new insights into the Miocene-Pliocene climate transition in East Asia.


2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 2163-2168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junsheng Nie ◽  
Rui Zhang ◽  
Cristian Necula ◽  
David Heslop ◽  
Qingsong Liu ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Yuchao Zhao ◽  
Jing Zhou ◽  
Fuyou Chen ◽  
Xiaomin Wang ◽  
Junyi Ge ◽  
...  

Abstract A multidisciplinary fieldwork and research project was recently begun at the Yangshang site (220–140 ka), a late Early Paleolithic locale in the western Chinese Loess Plateau. 1696 lithic artifacts and 337 faunal remains were recovered during the excavation. Sedimentological and paleoenvironmental investigations indicate the site preserves a relatively long and minimally disturbed archaeological sequence associated with paleoenvironmental changes during MIS 7–6. A detailed techno-typological analysis of Yangshang's lithic assemblages was undertaken to examine the influence of glacial cycles on late Middle Pleistocene hominin technological strategies in the western Chinese Loess Plateau. The results show that while the Yangshang site is dominated by quartz-based core/flake assemblages typical of most Early Paleolithic sites in North China, the lithic assemblages provide evidence that different provisioning systems existed during the penultimate glaciation. We argue that these shifts reflect changes in land use and mobility that were tied to climate change. Our results suggest that theoretically informed statistical analyses of so-called unchanging and crude lithic technology can yield meaningful evidence for behavioral shifts.


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