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Pedosedimentary Reconstruction of a Thick Loess-Paleosol Sequence near Lanzhou in North-Central China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Rob A. Kemp ,
Edward Derbyshire ,
Meng Xingmin ,
Chen Fahu  and
Pan Baotian
Rob A. Kemp
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, United Kingdom
Edward Derbyshire
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, United Kingdom Geological Hazards Research Institute, Gansu Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, People's Republic of China
Meng Xingmin
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, United Kingdom Geological Hazards Research Institute, Gansu Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, People's Republic of China
Chen Fahu
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, People's Republic of China
Pan Baotian
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, People's Republic of China
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Abstract

A 38-m well section near Lanzhou at the semiarid western margin of the Loess Plateau, China, contained a continuous, high-resolution loess-paleosol sequence spanning the last 130,000 yr. Depth functions of micromorphological features, magnetic susceptibility, calcium carbonate, organic carbon, and median grain size provide the basis for pedosedimentary and associated paleoenvironmental reconstructions of three paleosol complexes (S1, Sm, and S0). Each pedosedimentary stage reflects the interaction of changing intensities of controlling monsoonal forces. Three periods of reduced dust inputs and enhanced pedogenic activity, notably bioturbation and weak leaching, can be identified from within the S1 pedocomplex. These "soil-forming intervals" were separated by phases of varying land surface instability characterized by arid dust deposition, semiarid accretionary pedogenesis, water reworking, and crust formation, or even freeze-thaw modification. The Sm pedocomplex represents an interval of relatively rapid dust accumulation with only minimal syndepositional modification and minor pedogenic alteration at ephemeral land surfaces. The S0 pedocomplex is clearly more pedogenically developed, although erosion, reworking, and mixing by water have partly homogenized the property depth functions.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 43 , Issue 1 , January 1995 , pp. 30 - 45
Copyright
University of Washington

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