Magneto- and cyclostratigraphy in the red clay sequence: New age model and paleoclimatic implication for the eastern Chinese Loess Plateau

• Published in: Journal of geophysical research. Solid earth Vol. 120; no. 10; pp. 6758 - 6770
• Main Authors: Anwar, Taslima, Kravchinsky, Vadim A., Zhang, Rui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-10-2015
• Subjects: Age; Amplification; Clay; Clay (material); Climate; Climate variations; Construction; Correlation; Correlation analysis; Cycles; cyclostratigraphy; Dating techniques; Deposition; Deposits; Eccentricity; Eolian deposits; Evolution; Failure; Fossils; Geological time; Geophysics; Grain size; Intervals; Iterative methods; Loess; Magnetic permeability; Magnetic susceptibility; Magnetostratigraphy; Milankovitch cycles; Miocene; Monsoons; Paleoclimate science; Pelagic clay; Plateaus; red clay; Sequencing; Stratigraphy; Summer; Summer monsoon; Wavelet analysis; Wind; Winter; Winter monsoon; Loess Plateau; Asia; China, People's Rep., Loess Plateau
• ISSN: 2169-9313; 2169-9356
• DOI: 10.1002/2015JB012132

The Chinese Loess Plateau red clay sequences display a continuous alternation of sedimentary cycles that represent recurrent climatic fluctuations from 2.58 Ma to the Miocene. Deciphering such a record can provide us with vital information on global and Asian climatic variations. Lack of fossils and failure of absolute dating methods made magnetostratigraphy a leading method to build age models for the red clay sequences. Here we test the magnetostratigraphic age model against cyclostratigraphy. For this purpose we investigate the climate cyclicity recorded in magnetic susceptibility and sedimentary grain size in a red clay section previously dated 11 Myr old with magnetostratigraphy alone. Magnetostratigraphy dating based on only visual correlation could potentially lead to erroneous age model. In this study the correlation is executed through the iteration procedure until it is supported by cyclostratigraphy; i.e., Milankovitch cycles are resolved in the best possible manner. Our new age model provides an age of 5.2 Ma for the Shilou profile. Based on the new age model, wavelet analysis reveals the well‐preserved 400 kyr and possible 100 kyr eccentricity cycles on the eastern Chinese Loess Plateau. Further, paleomonsoon evolution during 2.58–5.2 Ma is reconstructed and divided into three intervals (2.58–3.6 Ma, 3.6–4.5 Ma, and 4.5–5.2 Ma). The upper part, the youngest stage, is characterized by a relatively intensified summer monsoon, the middle stage reflects an intensification of the winter monsoon and aridification in Asia, and the earliest stage indicates that summer and winter monsoon cycles may have rapidly altered. The use of cyclostratigraphy along with magnetostratigraphy gives us an effective method of dating red clay sequences, and our results imply that many presently published age models for the red clay deposits should be perhaps re‐evaluated.
Key Points
We use magneto‐ and cyclostratigraphy for dating of eolian deposits
We question solely magnetostratigraphy approach for red clay dating
Paleomonsoon evolution is reconstructed for Chinese Loess Plateau