Magnetic properties of the Tertiary red clay from Gansu |
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Authors: | Xiuming Liu Zhisheng An Tim Rolph Xiaoke Qiang Paul Hesse Huayu Lu Jie Zhou and Yanjun Cai |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Physical Geography, Macquarie University, 2109 Sydney, NSW, Australia;(2) Institute of Earth Environment & the State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 710054 Xi’an, China;(3) Department of Geology, University of Newcastle, 2308, NSW, Australia |
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Abstract: | The study on magnetic properties of the red clay indicates that the red clay and loesspaleosol sequence have a common magnetic
mineralogy, with magnetite, maghemite, hematite (and possibly goethite) contributing to the magnetic behavior. The red clay
magnetic susceptibility is also found to have a positive relation with extrafine superparamagnetic grains. This suggests that,
like the Quaternary loess-paleosols, an ultrafine ferrimagnetic component produced during pedogenesis in the red clay under
humid conditions also plays an important role in susceptibility enhancement in the soil units. This is supported by the correlation
between Rb/Sr ratio and magnetic susceptibility. This signifies that, like the above loess-paleosol sequence, the magnetic
susceptibility of the red clay can be used as a general proxy paleoclimatic indicator, although whether its susceptibility
in the red clay is comparable to pedogenesis intensity and requires further investigation. Magnetic susceptibility variation
in the red clay thus also provides an eolian/pedogenic record of paleoclimatic evolution. Study of the background susceptibility
indicates that, on average, the absolute scale of the paleoclimatic shift from red clay development to Quaternary loess deposition
is similar to the climatic shift from stage 5 (S1) to stage 2–4 (L1). This may suggest that during the Quaternary there is
an evident strengthening of the absolute wind intensity to bring more (about double) coarser and less weathered (non-SP fraction)
eolian magnetic input from the source regions to the Loess Plateau than during the Pliocene. The presence of eolian red clay
since 7.5 Ma BP in central-northern China implies an important environmental change from the underlying Cretaceous red sandstone.
The red clay development was closely related to global drying and climate cooling since the Cretaceous and closely associated
with the abrupt uplift of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau at about that time. This uplift of the plateau intensified the East Asia
monsoon system and started red clay deposition. |
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Keywords: | red clay magnetic property magnetic susceptibility Rb/Sr ratio paleoclimatic significance |
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