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Response of grain-size components of loess-paleosol sequence to Quaternary climate in the Southern Loess Plateau, China

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Abstract

A new, thick, and complete loess-paleosol sequence is a good response to climate changes. In this paper, the distribution and parameters of grain size in the **ushidu (XSD) sequence in the southern Loess Plateau were systematically investigated. A comparative analysis of the sediment granularity with different areas was also conducted. The results show that the XSD sequence is primarily constituted by coarse silt (52.18%), clay (21.71%), and fine silt (20.27%), and the contents of colloidal particles (3.63%) and fine sand (2.21%) are relatively small. The contents of 1~5 μm and < 5 μm show a slight increase from S9 to S5, while the contents are clear downward from L5 to L0, indicating that the climate is gradually getting colder after S5. Grain-size distribution curves show a bimodal pattern for loess/paleosol. The grain-size component and peak pattern illustrate that dust materials were not only transported by wind but also experienced pedogenesis. Moreover, the changes of grain-size indicator Mz values indicate climatic instability. Comparing with the Beglitsa, Oitak (AYTK), Lanzhou (LZ), Pengyang (PY), Luochuan (LC), and XSD sequences, we can infer that the XSD sequence not only has experienced the strong pedogenesis and the warm and humid climate but also has influenced by the Himalayas, the Tibetan Plateau, the QM, and the LPM. These analyses help to clarify the climatic and environmental context of loess-paleosol sequence deposition phases and regional environmental evolutions.

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Acknowledgements

Their support is gratefully acknowledged.

Funding

This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41572236, 41790441, and 41931285) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, CHD (300102290715 and 300102290401). And the completion of this article was inseparable from the contributions of all authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Chang’an University, **’an, 710054, Shaanxi, China

    Qiying Zhang, Panpan Xu, Hui Qian & Kai Hou

  2. Key Laboratory of Subsurface Hydrology and Ecological Effects in Arid Region of the Ministry of Education, Chang’an University, **’an, 710054, Shaanxi, China

    Qiying Zhang, Panpan Xu, Hui Qian & Kai Hou

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  1. Qiying Zhang
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  2. Panpan Xu
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Correspondence to Hui Qian.

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Responsible Editor: Zhihua Zhang

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Zhang, Q., Xu, P., Qian, H. et al. Response of grain-size components of loess-paleosol sequence to Quaternary climate in the Southern Loess Plateau, China. Arab J Geosci 13, 815 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-020-05830-9

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