Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T11:28:50.017Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Changes in Sand Content of Loess Deposits along a North–South Transect of the Chinese Loess Plateau and the Implications for Desert Variations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Zhongli Ding ,
Jimin Sun ,
Nat W. Rutter ,
Dean Rokosh  and
Tungsheng Liu
Zhongli Ding
Affiliation:
Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China
Jimin Sun
Affiliation:
Xian State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Xian, 710054, China
Nat W. Rutter
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2E3, Canada
Dean Rokosh
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2E3, Canada
Tungsheng Liu
Affiliation:
Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Geological records have shown that the deserts east of the Helan Mountains in northern China were covered by grass during the Holocene Optimum, whereas during marine oxygen isotope stages 2 and 4 distribution of the deserts was almost the same as at present. The wide advance–retreat cycles of the deserts may have exerted an important control on grain-size changes in the loess of the Loess Plateau by altering the distance between the source and the accumulation zone of the loess. This challenges the widely accepted model that winter monsoon winds were the sole factor responsible for spatial and temporal changes in loess texture. To observe spatial changes in sedimentological characteristics of loess during the last glacial–interglacial cycle, the texture of loess was measured along a north–south transect of the Loess Plateau. This transect consists of nine loess sections, starting at Yulin in the transitional region between the Loess Plateau and the Mu Us Desert and ending at Weinan in the southernmost part of the Loess Plateau. Southward changes in sand (>63 μm) content along the transect suggest that variations in desert extent have indeed played a significant role in loess grain-size distributions, particularly in the northern part of the Loess Plateau. It is proposed that sand content (>63 μm%) of loess in the loess–desert transitional zone may be used as a proxy indicator for proximity to the desert margin.

Keywords

Chinaloessmonsoon climateLoess PlateauMu Us Desert
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 52 , Issue 1 , July 1999 , pp. 56 - 62
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

An, Z.S., Kukla, G., Porter, S.C., Xiao, J.L..(1991). Late Quaternary dust flow on the Chinese Loess Plateau. Catena. 18, (1991). 125–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
An, Z.S., Porter, S.C..(1997). Millennial-scale climatic oscillations during the last interglaciation in central China. Geology. 25, (1997). 603–606.Google Scholar
Ding, Z.L., Liu, T.S., Rutter, N.W., Guo, Z.T., Zhu, R.X..(1995). Ice-volume forcing of East Asia winter monsoon variations in the past 800,000 year. Quaternary Research. 44, (1995). 149–159.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ding, Z.L., Rutter, N., Han, J.T., Liu, T.S..(1992). A coupled environmental system formed at about 2.5 Ma in East Asia. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 94, (1992). 223–242.Google Scholar
Ding, Z., Yu, Z., Rutter, N.W., Liu, T..(1994). Towards an orbital time scale for Chinese loess deposits. Quaternary Science Reviews. 13, (1994). 39–70.Google Scholar
Dong, G.R., Li, B.S., Gao, S.Y., Wu, Z., Shao, Y.J..(1983). The Quaternary ancient eolian sands in the Ordos Plateau. Acta Geographic Sinica. 38, (1983). 341–347.Google Scholar
Liu, J.Q., Nie, G.Z., Chen, T.M., Song, C.Y., Guo, Z.T., Li, K., Gao, S.J., Qiao, Y.L..(1995). A preliminary high resolution time scale for the last 130000 year at Weinan loess section, China. Scientia Geologia Sinica, Supplementary Issue. 1, (1995). 9–22.Google Scholar
Liu, T.S..(1966). Composition and Texture of Loess. (1966). Science Press, Beijing.Google Scholar
Liu, T.S..(1985). Loess and the Environment. (1985). China Ocean Press, Beijing.Google Scholar
Liu, T.S., Ding, Z.L..(1998). Chinese Loess and the Paleomonsoon. Annual Reviews of Earth and Planetary Sciences. 26, (1998). 111–145.Google Scholar
Porter, S.C., An, Z.S..(1995). Correlation between climate events in the North Atlantic and China during the last glaciation. Nature. 375, (1995). 305–308.Google Scholar
Pye, K..(1987). Aeolian Dust and Dust Deposits. (1987). Academic Press, London.Google Scholar
Pye, K..(1995). The nature, origin and accumulation of loess. Quaternary Science Reviews. 14, (1995). 653–667.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Qiu, S.W., Li, Q.S., Xia, Y.M..(1992). Paleosols of sandy lands and environmental changes in the western plain of northeast China during Holocene. Quaternary Sciences. 3, (1992). 224–232.Google Scholar
Sun, J.M., Ding, Z.L., Liu, T.S..(1995). The environmental evolution of the desert–loess transitional zone over the last glacial–interglacial cycle. Scientia Geologica Sinica, Supplementary Issue. 1, (1995). 1–8.Google Scholar
Sun, J.M., Ding, Z.L., Liu, T.S..(1997). Geological evidence of Mu Us Desert evolution since 0.5 Ma B.P. Scientia Geologica Sinica. 6, (1997). 97–106.Google Scholar
Sun, J.M., Ding, Z.L., Liu, T.S..(1998). Desert distributions during the glacial maximum and climate optimum: Example of China. Episodes. 21, (1998). 28–31.Google Scholar
Sun, J.M., Yin, G.M., Chen, J., Ding, Z.L., Liu, T.S..(1998). Thermoluminescence chronology of sand profiles in the Mu Us Desert, China. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 144, (1998). 225–233.Google Scholar
Tsoar, H., Pye, K..(1987). Dust transport and the question of desert loess formation. Sedimentology. 34, (1987). 139–153.Google Scholar
Vandenberghe, J., An, Z.S., Nugteren, G., Lu, H.Y., Huissteden, K.V..(1997). New absolute time scale for the Quaternary climate in the Chinese loess region by grain-size analysis. Geology. 25, (1997). 35–38.Google Scholar
Xiao, J.L., Porter, S.C., An, Z.S., Kumai, H., Yoshikawa, S..(1995). Grain size of quartz as an indicator of winter monsoon strength on the Loess Plateau of central China during the last 130,000 yr. Quaternary Research. 43, (1995). 22–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhao, S.Q.. Physical Geography of China. (1986). Wiley, New York.Google Scholar
Zhu, Z.D., Wu, Z., Liu, S., Di, X.M..(1980). An Introduction to Deserts in China. (1980). Science Press, Beijing.Google Scholar