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Zebra layers and palaeoenvironment of Late Miocene Stratum in the Linxia Basin, northwestern China

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Abstract

Miocene strata in the Linxia Basin (Gansu, China) are usually interpreted as lacustrine sediments. However, the red–grey inter-beds known as ‘Zebra layers’ commonly tilt with respect to the terrain on the side slopes of the modern valley, which may be due to mantling palaeotopography (similar to aeolian loess). The anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility, which reflects the original arrangement of magnetic particles in sediments, was applied to investigate this phenomenon. The results showed that the tilting of the inter-beds in the side slope was due to mantle palaeotopography rather than soil creep, and that they were not deposited in a subaqueous environment. The grain sizes of sediments showed similar features as aeolian loess. We speculate that Miocene sediments were deposited by mantling the palaeotopography where aeolian materials accumulated. After deposition, flowing water submerged these strata, which caused the side slope to become gradually thinner from top to bottom and stirred the magnetic particles in these sediments. The grey colour of the Zebra layers may not be original, as it may be due to waterlogging and deoxidation after deposition; finally, when the iron oxides in these sediments were transformed or removed, their colours became grey. The formation of Zebra layers indicates that the Late Miocene palaeoenvironment of northwestern China was similar to that in which Quaternary aeolian loess was deposited.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 41210002; U1405231).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008, People’s Republic of China

    Xiuqing Nian & Fengqing Han

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People’s Republic of China

    Xiuqing Nian & Hui Guo

  3. Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory for Geology and Environment of Salt Lake, Xining, 810008, People’s Republic of China

    Xiuqing Nian & Fengqing Han

  4. Institute of Geography, Fujian Normal University, Fujian, 350007, People’s Republic of China

    Xiuming Liu & Bin Lü

  5. Key Laboratory for Subtropical Mountain Ecology, Ministry of Science and Technology and Fujian Province, College of Geographical Sciences, Fujian Normal University, Fujian, 350007, People’s Republic of China

    Xiuming Liu & Bin Lü

  6. Department of Environment and Geography, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia

    Xiuming Liu

  7. Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources, Gansu Province/Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources Research, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, People’s Republic of China

    Hui Guo

  8. School of Human Settlements and Civil Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049, People’s Republic of China

    Zhi Liu

  9. Institute of Global Environmental Change, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049, People’s Republic of China

    Zhi Liu

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  1. Xiuqing Nian
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  2. Xiuming Liu
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Correspondence to Xiuming Liu.

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Corresponding editor: Navin Juyal

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Nian, X., Liu, X., Guo, H. et al. Zebra layers and palaeoenvironment of Late Miocene Stratum in the Linxia Basin, northwestern China. J Earth Syst Sci 128, 10 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-018-1031-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-018-1031-3

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