Luminescence dating of sand-loess sequences and response of Mu Us and Otindag sand fields (north China) to climatic changes

The sand-loess transition zone in north China is sensitive to climate change, and is an ideal place to investigate past environmental changes. However, past climate change at millennial-centennial timescales in this region has not been well reconstructed because of limited numerical dating. Alternat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Quaternary Science
Main Authors: Zhou, Yali, Lu, Huayu, Zhang, Jiafu, Mason, Joseph A., Zhou, Liping
Other Authors: Lu, HY (reprint author), Nanjing Univ, Sch Geog & Oceanog Sci, 22 Hankou Rd, Nanjing 210093, Jiangsu, Peoples R China., Nanjing Univ, Sch Geog & Oceanog Sci, Nanjing 210093, Jiangsu, Peoples R China., Peking Univ, Dept Geog, Beijing 100871, Peoples R China., Univ Wisconsin, Dept Geog, Madison, WI 53706 USA., Chinese Acad Sci, SKLLQG, Inst Earth Environm, Xian, Peoples R China., Nanjing Univ, Sch Geog & Oceanog Sci, 22 Hankou Rd, Nanjing 210093, Jiangsu, Peoples R China.
Format: Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: journal of quaternary science 2009
Subjects:
optical dating
sand-loess system
dry climate events
late Quaternary
north China
OPTICALLY STIMULATED LUMINESCENCE
REGENERATIVE-DOSE PROTOCOL
LAST INTERGLACIAL PERIOD
EAST-ASIAN MONSOON
INNER-MONGOLIA
DUNE SANDS
FLUVIAL SEDIMENTS
LATE PLEISTOCENE
DUST EMISSION
QUARTZ
North Atlantic
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11897/246293
https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.1234
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Summary:The sand-loess transition zone in north China is sensitive to climate change, and is an ideal place to investigate past environmental changes. However, past climate change at millennial-centennial timescales in this region has not been well reconstructed because of limited numerical dating. Alternations of sandy loam soils with aeolian sand layers in the Mu Us and Otindag Sand fields, which lie along the sand-loess transit ion zone, indicate multiple intervals of dune activity and stability. This change is probably a response to variations of the East Asian monsoon climate during the late Quaternary. Them single aliquot regeneration (SAR) optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating protocol, which has been successfully applied to aeolian deposits worldwide, is applied to these two sand fields in this study. The OSL ages provide reliable constraints for reconstruction of past climate changes at suborbital timescale. Sections in both sand fields contain aeolian sand beds recording millennial-scale episodes of dry climate and widespread dune activation, including episodes at about the same time as Heinrich Event 5 and the Younger Dryas in the North Atlantic region. These results demonstrate the potential of aeolian sediments in semi-arid north China to record millennial-scale climatic events, and also suggest that dry-wet climate variation at the desert margin in China may be linked to climatic change elsewhere in the Northern Hemisphere, through atmospheric circulation. Copyright (C) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Geosciences, Multidisciplinary Paleontology SCI(E) 13 ARTICLE 4 336-344 24

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