In situ cosmogenic ~(10)Be dating of the Quaternary glaciations in the southern Shaluli Mountain on the Southeastern Tibetan Plateau

It is generally considered that four-times ice age happened during the Quaternary epoch on the Tibetan Plateau. However, the research on the chronology of the four-times ice age is far from enough. The Shaluli Mountain on the Southeastern Tibetan Plateau is an ideal place for plaeo-glacier study, because there are abundant Quaternary glacial remains there. This paper discusses the ages of the Quaternary glaciations, based on the exposure dating of roche moutonnée, moraines and gla- cial erosion surfaces using in situ cosmogenic isotopes 10Be. It is found that the exposure age of the roche moutonnée at Tuershan is 15 ka, corresponding to Stage 2 of the deep-sea oxygen isotope, suggesting that the roche moutonnée at Tuershan is formed in the last glacial maximum. The expo- sure age of glacial erosion surface at Laolinkou is 130―160 ka, corresponding to Stage 6 of the deep-sea oxygen isotope. The oldest end moraine at Kuzhaori may form at 421―766 kaBP, corre- sponding to Stages 12―18 of the deep-sea oxygen isotope. In accordance with the climate charac- teristic of stages 12,14,16 and 18 reflected by the deep-sea oxygen isotope, polar ice cores and loess sequence, the oldest end moraine at Kuzhaori may form at stage 12 or stage 16, the latter is more possible.     

10Be dating of boulders on moraines from the last glacial period in the Nyainqentanglha mountains,Tibet

Chronologies of glacial advances during the last glacial period in the Nyainqentanglha mountain range may provide constraints on the past climate in a transition zone of the Asian monsoon.We present 15 new10Be exposure ages from two moraines in the Payuwang valley,on the north slope of the range.The inner moraine has exposure ages ranging from 18.0±1.7 to 30.6±2.8 ka(n=10),with a mean age of 23.8±4.0 ka,corresponding to the global Last Glacial Maximum(LGM).The outer moraine yields exposure ages ranging from 18.0±1.6 to 39.9±3.7 ka(n=5).Evidence for weathering leads us to view the oldest age as a minimum age,placing moraine formation during MIS3.Chronologies from the last glacial period from south slope of the Nyainqentanglha support this interpretation.Thus,there appears to have been a local LGM(LLGM)during MIS3 and a more limited glacial advance during the global LGM.Glacial advances during MIS3 in the Nyainqentanglha may correlate with millennial-scale climate change(Heinrich events).     

10Be surface-exposure age dating of the Last Glacial Maximum in the northern Pamir (Tajikistan)

Knowledge of the spatial and temporal variations in Alpine glaciations is essential for reconstructing the regional and global timing of ice ages. This study investigates glacial deposits at the mouth of the Muksu catchment in the northern Pamir using ¹⁰Be surface-exposure age dating. We sampled boulders from the furthest downstream recessional moraine (20 samples) and five lateral moraines (41 samples) near the former terminus of the Fedchenko Glacier, the longest (∼72 km) present-day Alpine glacier of the Pamir. After the identification of outliers, the boulder population of the recessional moraine yielded a mean exposure age of 17.5 ± 1.9 ka. The maximum exposure age of the lateral moraines, collected ∼5 km up-valley of the recessional moraine, is 18.2 ± 1.7 ka. The boulder ages reflect glacial deposition during the Last Glacial Maximum (Marine Isotope Stage 2) in the region; they are in accordance with published glacial deposition ages in the western Tian Shan.     

Transition of Quaternary glacial cyclicity in deep-sea records at Nansha, the South China Sea

High-resolution oxygen isotope records over the last 2249 ka (MIS 1–86) have been obtained from cores of the upper section (105.08 m) at ODP Site 1143 (water depth of 2772 m) drilled in the Nansha area, southern South China Sea. The sampling resolution is at about 2 ka intervals, resulting in one of the best oxygen isotope records over the global ocean. The oxygen isotope curves, displaying details in the Pleistocene glacial cycles, have revealed a nearly 300 ka long stage of transition from a predominant 40 ka to 100 ka periodicity. Therefore, the “Mid-Pleistocene Revolution” should be considered as a process of transition rather than an abrupt change. Within the 100 ka glacial cycles, the changes in tropical sea surface water were found to lead those in high-latitude ice sheet. Our comparisons show that the ice sheet expansion and the glacial stage extension in the Northern Hemisphere with the 100 ka cycles must have been driven not by ice sheet itself, but by processes outside the high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.     

Ice cap erosion patterns from bedrock 10Be and 26Al,southeastern Tibetan Plateau

Quantifying glacial erosion contributes to our understanding of landscape evolution and topographic relief production in high altitude and high latitude areas. Combining in situ ¹⁰Be and ²⁶Al analysis of bedrock, boulder, and river sand samples, geomorphological mapping, and field investigations, we examine glacial erosion patterns of former ice caps in the Shaluli Shan of the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. The general landform pattern shows a zonal pattern of landscape modification produced by ice caps of up to 4000 km² during pre-LGM (Last Glacial Maximum) glaciations, while the dating results and landforms on the plateau surface imply that the LGM ice cap further modified the scoured terrain into different zones. Modeled glacial erosion depth of 0–0.38 m per 100 ka bedrock sample located close to the western margin of the LGM ice cap, indicates limited erosion prior to LGM and Late Glacial moraine deposition. A strong erosion zone exists proximal to the LGM ice cap marginal zone, indicated by modeled glacial erosion depth >2.23 m per 100 ka from bedrock samples. Modeled glacial erosion depths of 0–1.77 m per 100 ka from samples collected along the edge of a central upland, confirm the presence of a zone of intermediate erosion in-between the central upland and the strong erosion zone. Significant nuclide inheritance in river sand samples from basins on the scoured plateau surface also indicate restricted glacial erosion during the last glaciation. Our study, for the first time, shows clear evidence for preservation of glacial landforms formed during previous glaciations under non-erosive ice on the Tibetan Plateau. As patterns of glacial erosion intensity are largely driven by the basal thermal regime, our results confirm earlier inferences from geomorphology for a concentric basal thermal pattern for the Haizishan ice cap during the LGM. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

OSL dating of glacial deposits during the Last Glacial in the Terskey-Alatoo Range, Kyrgyz Republic

Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating was applied to glacial and loess deposits in the north flank of the Terskey-Alatoo Range, Kyrgyz Republic, to elucidate the glacier chronology of the central Asian mountains during the Last Glacial. Moraines in five parts of study area were classified into four stages (Terskey Stages I–IV) based on their geographical position and elevation, and their moraine rock weathering. According to this classification, the oldest moraines (Terskey Stage I) were at 2100–2250 m a.s.l. and the second-oldest moraines (Terskey Stage II) were at 2400–2700 m a.s.l. Quartz samples from moraines of these two stages were used for OSL dating. The OSL ages of the quartz samples indicate that glacier expansion in the Terskey Stage II occurred between 21 and 29 ka BP.     

Quaternary integrative stratigraphy and timescale of China

Quaternary strata in China mainly comprise continental deposits in a variety of depositional settings. The continental Quaternary in temperate northern China consists mainly of eolian and fluvio-lacustrine deposits; that in subtropical southern China, mainly of vermiculated red soils, cave/fissure deposits, and fluvio-lacustrine deposits; and that in the alpine Tibetan Plateau, mainly of fluvio-lacustrine and piedmont deposits. The marine Quaternary in China consists of detrital deposits and biogenic reef deposits. The integration of biostratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy, climatostratigraphy and an astronomically calibrated chronology has led to the establishment of high-precision climatochronostratigraphic timescales for the detrital marine Quaternary in the South China Sea and the loess-paleosol sequence in the Chinese Loess Plateau. Extremely high-precision230 Th dating has provided a high-precision absolute age model for cave stalagmites over the past 640000 years as well as highresolution oxygen isotope records representing orbital-to suborbital-scale climate changes. By combining magnetic stratigraphy and biostratigraphy, robust chronostratigraphic frameworks for non-eolian continental Quaternary deposits on the scale of Quaternary geomagnetic polarities have been established. The continental Pleistocene Series consists, from oldest to youngest,of the Nihewanian Stage of the Lower Pleistocene, the Zhoukoudianian Stage of the Middle Pleistocene, and the Salawusuan Stage of the Upper Pleistocene. Stages of the continental Holocene Series have not yet been established. This review summarizes recent developments in the Quaternary chronostratigraphy of representative Quaternary strata and associated faunas, and then proposes an integrative chronostratigraphic framework and a stratigraphic correlation scheme for Quaternary continental strata in China. In the near-future, it is hoped to establish not only a Chinese continental Quaternary climatochronostratigraphic chart on the scale of glacial-interglacial cycles but also a Quaternary integrative chronostratigraphic chart including both continental and marine strata in China.     

The significance of rock structure,lithology and pre‐glacial deep weathering for the shape of intermediate‐scale glacial erosional landforms

The main landforms within the glacially scoured Precambrian rocks of the Swedish west coast are closely connected to the principal structural pattern and have lately been explained as mainly a result of etch processes, probably during the Mesozoic and with a possible second period of etching during the Neogene. To explore the effect of multiple glacial erosion on the rock surfaces, an island with two different lithologies and with striae from different directions was selected for a detailed study, focusing on the shape of roches moutonnées. Air‐photo interpretation of bedrock lineaments and roches moutonnées combined with detailed field mapping and striae measurements are used to interpret the structural and lithological control on the resulting shape. The study reveals a significant difference in shape between roches moutonnées in augen‐granite and orthogneiss. Low elongated and streamlined roches moutonnées occur in the gneiss area, striated by a Late Weichselian ice flow from the NE. This ice flow is subparallel with both the local dominant trend of topographically well‐expressed joints and the schistosity of the gneiss. Frequently, there are no signs of quarrying on the lee‐sides of the gneiss roches moutonnées and hence they resemble the shape of whalebacks, or ruwares, as typically associated with the exposed basal weathering surface found in tropical areas. The granite roches moutonnées were formed by an older ice flow from the ESE, which closely followed the etched WNW–ESE joint system of the granite. Late Weichselian ice flow from the NE caused only minor changes of the landforms. On the contrary, marks of the early ESE ice flow are poorly preserved in the gneiss area, where it probably never had any large effect as the flow was perpendicular to both schistosity and structures and, accordingly, also to the pre‐glacial relief. The study demonstrates that coincidence between ice flow direction and pre‐glacially etched structures is most likely to determine the effects of glacial erosion. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Moraine pebbles and boulders yield indistinguishable Be ages: A case study from Colorado, USA

Cosmogenic exposure dating of moraines during the last two decades has vastly improved knowledge on the timing of glaciation worldwide. Due to a variety of geologic complications, such as moraine degradation, snow cover, bedrock erosion and isotopic inheritance, samples from multiple large boulders (>1–2 m) often lead to the most accurate moraine age assignments. However, in many cases, large boulders are not available on moraines of interest. Here, I test the suitability of pebble collections from moraine crest surfaces as a sample type for exposure dating. Twenty-two ¹⁰Be ages from two Pleistocene lateral moraine crests in Pine Creek valley in the upper Arkansas River basin, Colorado, were calculated from both pebble and boulder samples. Ten ¹⁰Be ages from a single-crested Bull Lake lateral moraine range between 3 and 72 ka, with no statistical difference between pebble (n = 5) and boulder (n = 5) ages. The lack of a cluster of ¹⁰Be ages suggests that moraine degradation has led to anomalously young exposure ages. Twelve ¹⁰Be ages from a single-crested Pinedale lateral moraine have a bimodal age distribution; one mode is 22.0 ± 1.4 ka (three boulders, two pebble collections), the other is 15.2 ± 0.9 ka (two boulders, five pebble collections). The interpretation of the two age modes is that two glacier maxima of similar extent were attained during the late Pleistocene. Regardless of moraine age interpretations, that ¹⁰Be ages from pebble collections and boulders are indistinguishable on moraines of two different ages, and in two different age modes of the Pinedale moraine, suggests that pebble collections from moraine crests may serve as a suitable sample type in some settings.     

Climate variation since the Last Interglaciation recorded in the Guliya ice core

The climatic and environmental variations since the Last Interglaciation are reconstructed based on the study of the upper 268 m of the 309-m-long Guliya ice core. Five stages can be distinguished since the Last Interglaciation from the δ¹⁸O record in the Guliya ice core: Stage 1 (Deglaciation), Stage2 (the Last Glacial Maximum), Stage 3 (interstadial), Stage 4 (interstadial in the early glacial maximum) and Stage 5 (the Last Interglaciation). Stage 5 can be divided further into 5 substages; a, b, c, d, e. The δ¹⁸O record in the Guliya ice core indicates clearly the close correlation between the temperature variation on the Tibetan Plateau and the solar activities. The study indicates that the solar activity is a main forcing to the climatic variation on the Tibetan Plateau. Through a comparison of the ice core record in Guliya with that in the Greenland and the Antarctic, it can be found that the variation of large temperature variation events in different parts of the world is generally the same, but the variation amplitude of temperature is different. Project supported by thc Climbing Program of the State Eighth Five-Year Plan and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.     

藏南冰前湖枪勇错近百年沉积速率变化及冰川进退反演

青藏高原上分布着大量的大陆性冰川,其对区域及全球气候变化响应极其敏感.工业革命以来,随着全球升温速率加快(特别是北半球),青藏高原部分地区的冰川在近百年显著退缩.冰前湖沉积物是最直接的冰川变化记录载体之一,但其沉积速率如何响应冰川及气候变化,能否反演冰川进退过程却知之甚少.本文依据~(210)Pb和~(137)Cs限定藏南冰前湖枪勇错QY5沉积岩芯的年龄,计算出不同深度沉积物的沉积速率,且与前人(QY-3)的沉积速率进行对比,揭示了近百年来枪勇错流域冰川变化历史及其与气温之间的关系.结果表明,枪勇错QY5近百年来的平均沉积速率为0.21 cm/a,比湖心(QY-3)快2倍左右,但两者的变化基本同步,高沉积速率对应温度上升期,是冰川退缩的直接响应:(1)1900—1960年,枪勇错沉积速率整体增加且变幅较大,与1890—1950年之间西藏温度波动式升高相对应,反映枪勇冰川总体处于退缩状态;(2)1960—1985年,沉积速率低且变幅较小,同期气温下降,枪勇冰川退缩程度相对较低且保持平稳;(3)1985年以来,枪勇错沉积速率呈上升趋势,是全球增暖下冰川显著退缩的直接响应.在短时间尺度内冰前湖沉积速率所揭示的枪勇冰川变化主要受控于温度,降水量对冰川变化的影响较小,但冰川对温度变化的响应滞后5～10 a.由于全球变暖和冰川对温度响应的滞后,在未来几十年高原冰川的融化速率可能会加快,亚洲水塔将面临着新的挑战.     

Lake level changes of Nam Co since 25 ka as revealed by OSL dating of paleo-shorelines

Many lakes in the Tibetan Plateau (TP) experienced dramatic lake level changes in the late Quaternary, as suggested by well-preserved paleo-shorelines up to ∼200 m above present lake levels. These relic shorelines provide direct geomorphic record to reconstruct past lake level fluctuation history and water volume changes, linked closely to variations in paleo-climatic controls including Asian monsoon, westerlies and glacial meltwater. In this study, 27 near-shore sediment samples from three of eight paleo-shorelines at north of Nam Co were dated by Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) technique, using coarse grains of quartz and potassium feldspar.Our results indicate that: 1) S1 is the highest/most developed shoreline (+26 m). Sediment from upper part of S1 has a consistent age of ∼25 ka (nine samples from 3 gullies), suggesting a high lake level of Nam Co occurred around 25 ka. An overflow point west of Nam Co has a close elevation to that of S1 and thus limits the presence of higher lake levels; 2) sediment profile from the slightly lower S2 (+22 m) contains two parts, silty sand (6.9–8.9 ka) at the bottom and shoreline deposits atop (∼2.3 ka), suggesting Nam Co maintained a relative high lake level in the early Holocene and such lake level occurred again at about 3.0–2.0 ka; 3) In contrast to the swift variations of monsoon precipitation and glacial meltwater in the late Quaternary, water level of Nam Co remained relatively stable during the period from ∼25 ka to about early Holocene (from +26 m to +22 m), implying a continuous outflowing stage and lake infill constantly exceeds evaporation; 4) S5 (+11 m) has an age of 0.7–1.4 ka. Nam Co showed a much accelerated pace of shrinkage since about 2.0 ka in the late Holocene in roughly two steps: it dropped from +22 m to +11 m from ∼2.0 ka to 1.4 ka, and subsequently dropped another 11 m after 0.7 ka.     

Constant slip rate during the late Quaternary along the Sulu He segment of the Altyn Tagh Fault near Changma,Gansu, China

The question of whether millennial‐scale geological slip rates are consistent with decade‐scale geodetic slip rates is of great importance in evaluating the nature of continental deformation within the Tibetan Plateau. We determined the time‐averaged slip rate of the Sulu He segment of the Altyn Tagh Fault, near Changma in Gansu Province, China, based on geomorphic analysis, remote sensing data, and cosmogenic ¹⁰Be surface‐exposure age dating. Quaternary alluvial fan deposits in the study area (Qf1, Qf2, Qf3) are displaced by left‐lateral movement along the Altyn Tagh Fault. Because of the large accumulated displacement of these fans, some of them have become disconnected from the fan apexes that are directly linked to the debris‐source areas in the piedmont of the Qilian Shan to the south. The total minimum offsets are estimated to be about 429 ± 41 m for Qf1, about 130 ± 10 m for Qf2, and 32 ± 1 m for Qf3. The ¹⁰Be surface‐exposure ages obtained for Qf1 and Qf2 are 100–112 ka and 31–43 ka, respectively. Accordingly, the slip rate since the period of Qf1 and Qf2 depositions is calculated to have been about 3.7 mm/yr.     

“Difference Dating”: A novel approach towards dating alpine glacial moraines

The East Antarctic Ice Sheet responds sluggishly to shifts in climate. To capture subtle changes in Antarctic climate, researchers have focused instead on smaller alpine and cirque glaciers that fringe the ice sheet throughout the McMurdo Dry Valleys. The exposure ages of glacial moraine boulders scatter widely and often incorporate large amounts of inheritance, prohibiting the construction of a regional deglaciation chronology. We present a new sampling technique that takes advantage of ubiquitous desert pavements and allows for the detection of inheritance in overlying glacial moraine boulders. Our approach requires a large sample set, but offers increased confidence in modeling moraine age, an acceptable trade-off considering the need for more refined Antarctic paleoclimate reconstructions. Using the beryllium-10 system in sandstone quartz, we show that single exposure ages collected from moraine boulder tops are frequently inaccurate, and consistently over- and underestimate moraine age. Difference Dating offers a new approach to dating alpine glacial moraines independent from traditional boulder exposure age dating.     

Deglaciation history at the Alpine-Mediterranean transition (Argentera-Mercantour,SW Alps) from 10Be dating of moraines and glacially polished bedrock

Estimating the extent and age of the last glacial maxima as well as the chronology of glacial recessions in various environmental contexts is key to source-to-sink studies and paleoclimate reconstructions. The Argentera-Mercantour massif is located at the transition between the Alps and the Mediterranean Sea, therefore, its deglaciation chronology can be compared to the sediment budget of the Var River basin. Based on 13 new cosmic-ray exposure (CRE) beryllium-10 (¹⁰Be) datings performed on moraines and polished crystalline bedrocks and 22 reassessed ¹⁰Be CRE ages from similar altitude nearby steep basement surfaces, and from a lake sediment core, we can constrain the deglaciation chronology of the Argentera-Mercantour massif. These data allow for the first time to fully reconstruct the deglaciation history at the scale of the entire massif in agreement with a major glacier recession at c. 15 ka, at the onset of Bølling transition between the Oldest and Older Dryas. Main deglaciation of the upper slopes [2700–2800 m above sea level (a.s.l.)] occurred after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) at 20.8–18.6 ka, followed by the main deglaciation of the lower slopes (2300 m a.s.l.) at 15.3–14.2 ka. Finally, the flat polished surfaces above 2600 m a.s.l. and the zones confined within narrow lateral valleys were likely affected by progressive ice melting of remaining debris covered glaciers and moraine erosion following the Younger Dryas re-advance stage between 12 and 8–9 ka. At lower elevations, the Vens Lake located at 2300 m a.s.l., allows evidence of the onset of lake sedimentation at c. 14 ka and a transition towards a vegetated environment that mainly occurred before 8 ka. Moraine final stabilization at 5 ka might reflect denudation acceleration during the Holocene humid phase. This contribution reveals a glacier–climate relationship more sensitive to warming phases in the southern Alps highlighted by a major decrease of glaciers after c. 15 ka. This major deglaciation is correlated with a 2.5-fold decrease of sediment discharge of rivers into the Mediterranean Sea. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Role of glacial Arctic Ocean ice sheets in Pleistocene oxygen isotope and sea level records

A comparison of the oxygen isotope signal in deep-sea benthic foraminifera with the record of glacio-eustatic sea level for the last 160,000 years reveals that the amplitude of the benthic δ¹⁸O records predicts more continental ice volume than appears to be reflected in lowered sea level stands. These differences between the benthic δ¹⁸O ice volume estimates and radiometrically-dated records of eustatic sea level are consistent with the presence of a large floating Arctic Ocean ice mass during glacial intervals. The presence of an Arctic Ocean ice sheet during glacial intervals may account for the two climatic modes observed in oxygen isotope records which span the entire Pleistocene. The early Pleistocene (1.8 to 0.9 Myr B.P.) interval is characterized by low-amplitude, high-frequency δ¹⁸O fluctuations between glacial and interglacial periods, while the late Pleistocene (0.9 Myr B.P. to present) is characterized by large-amplitude, low-frequency δ¹⁸O changes. These two climatic modes can be explained by the initiation of earth orbital conditions favoring the co-occurrence of glacial period Arctic Ocean ice sheets and large continental ice sheets approximately 900,000 years before present.     

Cosmogenic 36Cl glacial chronologies of the Late Quaternary glaciers on Mount Geyikdağ in the Eastern Mediterranean

We report the timing of glaciations during the Late Quaternary in the central Taurus Mountains of Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean. Forty moraine samples from three glacial valleys on Mount Geyikdağ (36.53°N, 32.10^°E, 2877 m), near the Eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey, were dated with in-situ cosmogenic ³⁶Cl. These glacial valleys are located on the southern flank of the mountain and were filled with few km long glaciers that terminated at elevations of about 1750 m above sea level. Three glacial retreats/advances were determined in this study. During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), glaciers reached their maximum positions at 20.6 ± 0.6 ka ago (±1σ). This date is in accordance with the timing of local maximum ice extent, represented by piedmont glaciers in the northern side of the mountain. Glaciers started to retreat after the LGM and shortly stabilized or re-advanced two times before they completely vanished out. The first stage ended before 13.7 ± 0.8 ka ago during the Late-glacial. The last glaciation occurred during the Holocene and ended between 9.6 ± 1.4 ka and 5.9 ± 0.5 ka ago. Later, glaciers mostly vanished from the study area, but a few rock glaciers developed during the Late Holocene. Glacial chronologies of Mount Geyikdağ are mostly comparable with the globally observed advances elsewhere.     

230Th/234U and 14C dating of a lowstand coral reef beneath the insular shelf off Irabu Island, Ryukyus, southwestern Japan

Abstract   High-resolution seismic reflection profiles delineated the distribution of mound-shaped reflections, which were interpreted as reefs, beneath the insular shelf western off Irabu Island, Ryukyus, southwestern Japan. A sediment core through one of the mounded structures was recovered from the sea floor at a depth of −118.2 m by offshore drilling and was dated by radiometric methods. The lithology and coral fauna of the core indicate that the mounded structure was composed of coral–algal boundstone suggesting a small-scaled coral reef. High-precision α-spectrometric ²³⁰Th/²³⁴U dating coupled with calibrated accelerator mass spectrometric ¹⁴C ages of corals obtained reliable ages of this reef ranging from 22.18 ± 0.63 to 30.47 ± 0.98 ka. This proves that such a submerged reef was formed during the lowstand stage of marine oxygen isotope stages 3–2. The existence of low-Mg calcite in the aragonitic coral skeleton of 22.18 ± 0.63 ka provides evidence that the reef had once been exposed by lowering of the relative sealevel to at least −126 m during the last glacial maximum in the study area. There is no room for doubt that a coral reef grew during the last glacial period on the shelf off Irabu Island of Ryukyus in the subtropical region of western Pacific.     

Mineral magnetic variation of the Jingbian loess/paleosol sequence in the northern Loess Plateau of China: Implications for Quaternary development of Asian aridification and cooling

A high-resolution mineral magnetic investigation has been carried out on the Jingbian loess/paleosol sequence at the northern extremity of the Chinese Loess Plateau. Results show that the magnetic assemblage is dominated by large pseudo-single domain and multidomain-like magnetite with associated maghemite and hematite. Variations in the ratios of SIRM_100mT/SIRM, SIRM_100mT/SIRM_30mT and SIRM_100mT/SIRM_60mT (SIRM is the saturation isothermal remanent magnetization; SIRM_nmT represents the residual SIRM after an n mT alternating field demagnetization) have been used to document regional paleoclimate change in the Asian interior by correlating the mineral magnetic record with the composite δ¹⁸O record in deep-sea sediments. The long-term up-section decreasing trend in those ratios in both loess and paleosol units has been attributed to a long-term decrease in the relative contributions of eolian hematite during glacial extrema and of pedogenic hematite during interglacial extrema, respectively, which reveals a long-term decreasing trend in chemical weathering intensity in both glacial-stage source region (the Gobi and deserts in northwestern China) and interglacial-stage depositional area (the Loess Plateau region). We further relate this long-timescale variation to long-term increasing aridification and cooling, during both glacial extrema in the dust source region and interglacial extrema in the depositional area, over the Quaternary period. Changes in those ratios are most likely due to Quaternary aridification and cooling driven by ongoing global cooling, expansion of the Arctic ice-sheet, and progressive uplift of the Himalayan–Tibetan complex during this period.     

Defining rates of landscape evolution in a south Tibetan graben with in situ‐produced cosmogenic 10Be

The Tangra Yum Co graben is one of the active structures that accommodate the east‐west extension of the southern Tibetan Plateau and hosts one of the largest Tibetan lakes, which experienced lake‐level changes of ~200 m during the Holocene. In this study, cosmogenic ¹⁰Be is employed to: (1) quantify catchment‐wide denudation rates in fault‐bounded mountain ranges adjacent to the Tangra Yum Co graben; (2) date palaeo‐shorelines related to the Holocene lake‐level decline; and (3) determine the age of glacial advances in this region. The fault‐bounded, non‐glaciated mountain range north of Tangra Yum Co – and presumably most other areas around the lake – erode at low rates of 10–70 mm/ka. Owing to the slow erosion of the landscape, the sediments delivered to Tangra Yum Co have high ¹⁰Be concentrations. As a consequence, accurate exposure dating of sediment‐covered terraces and beach ridges is difficult, because the pre‐depositional ¹⁰Be concentration may exceed the post‐depositional ¹⁰Be concentration from which exposure ages are calculated. This difficulty is illustrated by a rather inaccurate ¹⁰Be exposure age of 2.3 ± 1.4 ka (i.e. an error of 60%) for a terrace that is located 67 m above the lake. Nevertheless, the age is consistent with luminescence ages for a series of beach ridges and provides further evidence for the decline of the lake level in the late Holocene. At Tangra Yum Co exposure dating of beach ridges via ¹⁰Be depth profiles is not feasible, because the pre‐depositional ¹⁰Be component in these landforms varies with depth, which violates a basic assumption of this approach. ¹⁰Be ages for boulders from two moraines are much older than the early Holocene lake‐level highstand, indicating that melting of glaciers in the mountain ranges adjacent to Tangra Yum Co has not contributed significantly to the lake‐level highstand in the early Holocene. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.