Abstract
Extending in a broad arc that abuts the sandy (non-Gobi) deserts, the loess plateau of northern China1–3 is one of the most massive accumulations of loess in the world. The loess sequence is typically characterized by an alternation of silty or sandy loess with more clay-rich palaeosols. These alternations, in conjunction with their enclosed faunas and distinctive mineralogies, have been interpreted as reflecting Pleistocene glacial/interglacial cycles3–8. Because it holds implications for the climatic and anthropological history of China9,10, the definition of a reliable chronological framework for loess deposition is of great interest. Recent palaeomagnetic studies4,5 have indicated that loess deposition in Shaanxi province commenced ∼2.4 Myr ago. To assess the synchrony of loess accumulation across the loess plateau, we have dated a 330-m-thick loess sequence near Lanzhou, Gansu province. The magnetostrati-graphical results reported here indicate that the base of this loess succession dates from ∼1.3 My r ago. This young age (in comparison to the Shaanxi sequence) is attributed to uplift along the northern fringe of the Tibetan Plateau11 that precluded early Pleistocene loess preservation in this mountainous region. Palaeosols in the basal loess occur, on average, once every 25 kyr, suggesting that climates conducive to soil-forming events may have been modulated by orbital precession in the early Pleistocene.
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Burbank, D., Jijun, L. Age and palaeoclimatic significance of the loess of Lanzhou, north China. Nature 316, 429–431 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1038/316429a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/316429a0
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