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Onset of Xiashu loess deposition in southern China by 0.9 Ma and its implications for regional aridification

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Abstract

The Xiashu loess is a typical Quaternary eolian deposit in southern China and represents an important terrestrial paleoclimate archive in this low-latitude monsoon region. However, the chronological framework of Xiashu loess deposition has yet to be established. Determining the timing of the onset of Xiashu loess deposition will allow researchers to better understand late Quaternary aridification across the Asian continent, the evolution of the East Asian monsoon and regional environmental changes in subtropical regions. Therefore, in this study, a systematic chronological study of the Xiashu loess is conducted to answer this question. For the first time, magnetostratigraphic classification reveals that the Matuyama/Brunhes (M/B) reversal is present in the Xiashu loess at two sites in Jiangsu Province, the Qingshan profile at Yizheng and the Dagang core in Zhenjiang. Based on the results of magnetostratigraphy and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating, the age of the lower boundary of the Xiashu loess is estimated to be approximately 0.9 Ma. Consequently, this Xiashu loess deposit is the oldest reported to date and is comparable in age to the red soil deposit in Xuancheng, Anhui Province. The onset of Xiashu loess deposition by 0.9 Ma represents the further expansion of arid range in Asia in the late Quaternary in response to significant aridification and winter monsoon strengthening in this subtropical region. We suggest that these climate changes were primarily driven by global cooling and an increase in high-latitude ice volume in the Northern Hemisphere and that the initiation of Xiashu loess accumulation was a regional response of southern China to the 0.9 Ma global cooling event.

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Acknowledgements

We thank senior researcher Zhao Xitao and Prof. Yang Dayuan for providing profile information. We thank senior researcher Deng Chenglong, Prof. Li Yongxiang, senior engineer Yi Shuangwen, associate Prof. Wang Xiaoyong and Dr. Zeng Lin for their help during the experimental phase. We thank Bin Zhang, Xiaowen Ye, Nairui Wang, Anqi Lv, Yuxin Ma and others for their assistance collecting and processing samples. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41571188, 41671191, 41690111 & 40971004).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Xusheng Li, Zhiyong Han, Huayu Lu, Yingyong Chen, Yang Li, Xiaokang Yuan, Yuwen Zhou, Mengyao Jiang & Cunjuan Lv

  2. CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Huayu Lu

  3. College of Environment and Planning, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475001, China

    Yingyong Chen

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  1. Xusheng Li
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Correspondence to Xusheng Li or Zhiyong Han.

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Li, X., Han, Z., Lu, H. et al. Onset of Xiashu loess deposition in southern China by 0.9 Ma and its implications for regional aridification. Sci. China Earth Sci. 61, 256–269 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-017-9134-2

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