Characterization of the Chinese loess-paleosol stratigraphy by whiteness measurement

Changing color is one of the most striking features of loess-palcosol sequences in central China: the loess is light yellow and the interstratified paleosols are reddish-brown. Until a few years ago, conventional color description of loess sediments was made using a qualitative visual method, the Mu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
Main Authors: Chen, J, Ji, JF, Balsam, W, Chen, Y, Liu, LW, An, ZS
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV 2002
Subjects:
whiteness
pedogenesis
iron oxide minerals
paleomonsoon
Chinese Loess Plateau
Physical Geography
Geology
Paleontology
DIFFUSE-REFLECTANCE SPECTROPHOTOMETRY
BICARBONATE-DITHIONITE EXTRACTION
FINE-GRAINED MAGNETITE
LAST 130,000 YEARS
PALEOCLIMATIC IMPLICATIONS
SEDIMENT CORES
NORTH-ATLANTIC
TIME-SCALE
SUSCEPTIBILITY
PLATEAU
Geography
Physical
Geosciences
Multidisciplinary
North Atlantic
Online Access:http://ir.ieecas.cn/handle/361006/11938
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-0182(02)00246-8
Description
Summary:Changing color is one of the most striking features of loess-palcosol sequences in central China: the loess is light yellow and the interstratified paleosols are reddish-brown. Until a few years ago, conventional color description of loess sediments was made using a qualitative visual method, the Munsell system. To better understand the character of the color changes and to quantify results. whiteness and magnetic susceptibility were compared from four loess-paleosol sequences. Results show that the two parameters are highly correlated in the four sequences studied. Grain-size analysis and chemical extraction experiments indicate that the concentration and species of fine-grained iron oxides are major factors determining color changes in loess and paleosols. Whiteness and latitude values from the last glacial-interglacial sequence exhibit a linear relationship suggesting that whiteness will be a useful tool for reconstructing past atmospheric circulation, especially the East Asian summer monsoon. Whiteness and magnetic susceptibility in the Luochuan profile over the past 0.9 Myr display a strong correlation indicating that whiteness can be also used to reveal a long climatic history from Chinese loess-paleosol sequences. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science BN. All rights reserved.

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