Holocene dust accumulation and the formation of polycyclic cinnamon soils (luvisols) in the Chinese Loess Plateau

Chinese loess–palaeosol sequences are well known for their records of monsoonal climatic variations. However, the modern processes of dust accumulation and soil formation remain poorly understood. A high‐resolution investigation on modern soils, including the measurement of magnetic susceptibility, particle‐size distribution, total Fe, total organic carbon, CaCO₃ content, and optical stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating was carried out on the Zhouyuan loess tableland in the southern Loess Plateau. The results indicate that modern cinnamon soils (luvisols) have developed on contemporarily accumulated aeolian dust during the Holocene. The aeolian loess accumulated during the Younger Dryas was identi?ed in the top part of the Malan Loess that underlay the modern soil by OSL dating and proxy climatic data. It indicates that the Malan Loess accumulated during the last glaciation (marine isotope stages 2–4) does not serve as the parent material for the modern soils. Pedogenesis of the soils started with the increased precipitation and soil moisture that have occurred on the loess tableland since the early Holocene. Precipitation‐driven pedogenesis and organic activities are responsible for the leaching of CaCO₃, decomposition of mineral dust and the production of clay and ferromagnetic minerals. Drier intervals have interrupted soil formation several times, and therefore pro?les with multiple soils have been developed at many sites on the loess tableland. At places where soil erosion was relatively strong, either a single soil or welded soils are preserved in the Holocene pro?les. This does not necessarily mean, however, that modern soils over the plateau have been developed without interruption under a constantly warmer, moister climate. This is signi?cant for understanding the surface processes and climatic variation during the formation of the numerous palaeosols over the Loess Plateau in the Quaternary. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

中更新世以来青藏高原RH孔和洛川黄土记录的比较研究

根据若尔盖盆地ＲＨ孔的研究成果,具体地将该孔的２１个阶段和洛川黄土记录进行对比,分析其异同点,探讨了高原不同降升阶段自身环境特点及其对邻近西北干旱区的影响。     

Factors controlling sediment yield in China's Loess Plateau

The Loess Plateau in China, an area with some of the highest sediment yield in the world, contributes predominant proportion of the sediments found in the Yellow River. We examined sediment yield and its control variables in the plateau based on a multi‐year dataset from 180 gauging stations in areas varying in size from 10² to 10⁴ km². Various morphometric, hydrologic, climatic and land cover variables were estimated in order to understand and predict the variations in sediment yield. The results show a spatial pattern of sediment yield exhibiting an obvious zonal distribution and a coupling between precipitation and vegetation cover that fits the Langbein–Schumm law. A critical threshold of precipitation and vegetation cover was observed among the relationships of sediment yield and precipitation/vegetation cover. A multiple regression equation with three control variables, i.e. vegetation cover, percentage of cultivated loess and annual runoff, explains 65% of the total variation in sediment yield. For the loess dominated basins, where the cultivated loess accounts for more than 60% of the total area, annual runoff was the dominant variable, explaining 76% of the observed variation in sediment yield. The established equation could be a valuable tool for predicting total sediment yield in the Loess Plateau. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

汶川地震远震区黄土场地地震反应特征分析

在实际场地钻孔资料的基础上,选取和构造45个有代表性的典型场地剖面,利用一维等效线性化波动方法,计算各个场地在三种不同强度地震动输入下的地表加速度反应。结果表明:(1)在远场地震动作用下,黄土场地PGA较大,反应谱平台范围较宽,集中在0.2~0.6s;(2)随着黄土覆盖厚度的增加,PGA减小,但对于自振周期大于一定范围的结构物震害加重;(3)对于无地形影响的厚层黄土地区,当黄土厚度在20~100 m时,随厚度的增加,反应谱下降段谱值增大1.1~1.4倍,特征周期放大1.1~1.25倍。     

The response law of far-field seismic ground motion of the Wenchuan earthquake and its damaging mechanism in the Loess Plateau

A series of housing collapses and other serious damage was caused by the 2008 Wenchuan M_S 8.0 earthquake in the seismic intensity Ⅵ areas of the Loess Plateau, which is hundreds of kilometers away from the epicenter, and which showed a remarkable seismic intensity anomaly. The seismic disasters are closely related to the seismic response characteristics of the site, therefore, the systematic study of the far-field seismic response law of the Wenchuan earthquake in the Loess Plateau is of great significance to prevent the far-field disaster of great earthquake. In this paper, the seismic acceleration records of several bedrock stations and loess stations from the seismogenic fault of the Wenchuan earthquake to the Loess Plateau were collected, and the attenuation law of ground motion along the propagation path and the characteristics of seismic response on the loess site are studied, and the mechanism of amplification effect of ground motion is analyzed based on the dynamic feature parameters of the loess site obtained through the HVSR method. Taking a typical loess site of thick deposit as the prototype, a series of shaking table tests of dynamic response of loess site models with different thicknesses were carried out. Amplification effect, spectral characteristics of acceleration in model sites were analyzed under the action of a far-field seismic wave of the Wenchuan earthquake. The results show that seismic attenuation on the propagation path along the NE strike of the seismogenic fault to the Loess Plateau is slower than that in other directions, and the predominant period range of ground motion on bedrock site of the Loess Plateau presents broadband characteristics. Because the natural periods of loess sites with thick deposits are within the predominant period range of bedrock input wave, loess sites appear significant amplification effect of ground motion, the horizontal acceleration of ground motion exceeds 0.1 ?g, the seismic intensity reaches 7°. The thicker the loess deposit is, the more significant the change of spectral characteristics of ground motion on loess sites, and the narrower the predominant period range of ground motion becomes, and the closer it is to the natural period of loess sites. Therefore, for some old houses on thick loess sites, the poor seismic performance and strong seismic response eventually led to their collapses and damages because their natural periods are very close to the predominant period of ground motion of the Wenchuan earthquake on thick loess sites; For these damaged high-rise buildings, the resonance effect might be the main reason for their damages because their natural periods are included in the predominant period range of ground motion of the Wenchuan earthquake on thick loess sites.These research results would provide a basis for seismic disasters prediction and evaluation and seismic design of construction engineering in the Loess Plateau.     

Prediction of Bulk Density of Soils in the Loess Plateau Region of China

Soil bulk density (BD) is a key soil physical property that may affect the transport of water and solutes and is essential to estimate soil carbon/nutrients reserves. However, BD data are often lacking in soil databases due to the challenge of directly measuring BD, which is considered to be labor intensive, time consuming, and expensive especially for the lower layers of deep soils such as those of the Chinese Loess Plateau region. We determined the factors that were closely correlated with BD at the regional scale and developed a robust pedotransfer function (PTF) for BD by measuring BD and potentially related soil and environmental factors at 748 selected sites across the Loess Plateau of China (620,000 km²) at which we collected undisturbed and disturbed soil samples from two soil layers (0–5 and 20–25 cm). Regional BD values were normally distributed and demonstrated weak spatial variation (CV = 12 %). Pearson’s correlation and stepwise multiple linear regression analyses identified silt content, slope gradient (SG), soil organic carbon content (SOC), clay content, slope aspect (SA), and altitude as the factors that were closely correlated with BD and that explained 25.8, 6.3, 5.8, 1.4, 0.3, and 0.3 % of the BD variation, respectively. Based on these closely correlated variables, a reasonably robust PTF was developed for BD using multiple linear regression, which performed equally with the artificial neural network method in the current study. The inclusion of topographic factors significantly improved the predictive capability of the BD PTF and in which SG was an important input variable that could be used in place of SA and altitude without compromising its capability for predicting BD. Thus, the developed PTF with only four input variables (clay, silt, SOC, SG), including their common transformations and interactive terms, predicted BD with reasonable accuracy and is thus useful for most applications on the Loess Plateau of China. More attention should be given to the role of topography when developing PTFs for BD prediction. Testing of the developed PTF for use in other loess regions in the world is required.     

Mangshan loess on China’ s Central Plain and its response to tectonic movement and climate*

The Mangshan loess on China’s Central Plain, located on the transitional zone between the uplifting Loess Plateau and the subsiding North China Plain, is a proximal sandy loess transported from the fanhead of alluvial fan in the lower reaches of the Yellow River and has recorded the coupling effect of the tectonics and climate over the last 200 ka. An abrupt environmental change indicated by the abrupt rise of deposit rate in the late penultimate glaciation, about 150 ka BP, took place; that is, the Yellow River downcut and moved eastwards through the Sanmenxia Gorge and transported abundant materials from the Loess Plateau to form paleosol S1 with a thickness of 15.7 m and loess L1 with a thickness of 77.3 m. The loess-paleosol sequence at Mangshan has not only recorded detailed climate responses of this area to the East Asian monsoon, but also reflects the tectonogenetic environmental effect caused by the trunk stream of the Yellow River cutting through Sanmenxia Gorge into sea. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No..49572132).     

Spatiotemporal characteristics of precipitation and extreme events on the Loess Plateau of China between 1957 and 2009

Spatiotemporal trends in precipitation may influence vegetation restoration, and extreme precipitation events profoundly affect soil erosion processes on the Loess Plateau. Daily data collected at 89 meteorological stations in the area between 1957 and 2009 were used to analyze the spatiotemporal trends of precipitation on the Loess Plateau and the return periods of different types of precipitation events classified in the study. Nonparametric methods were employed for temporal analysis, and the Kriging interpolation method was employed for spatial analysis. The results indicate a small decrease in precipitation over the Loess Plateau in last 53 years (although a Mann–Kendall test did not show this decrease to be significant), a southward shift in precipitation isohyets, a slightly delayed rainy season, and prolonged return periods, especially for rainstorm and heavy rainstorm events. Regional responses to global climate change have varied greatly. A slightly increasing trend in precipitation in annual and sub‐annual series, with no obvious shift of isohyets, and an evident decreasing trend in extreme precipitation events were detected in the northwest. In the southeast, correspondingly, a more seriously decreasing trend occurred, with clear shifts of isohyets and a slightly decreasing trend in extreme precipitation events. The result suggests that a negative trend in annual precipitation may have led to decreased soil erosion but an increase in sediment yield during several extreme events. These changes in the precipitation over the Loess Plateau should be noted, and countermeasures should be taken to reduce their adverse impacts on the sustainable development of the region. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the relationship between environmental aridization of the Loess Plateau and soil water in loess

The similarity between loess palaeo- environment and geographic distribution of modem bioclimatic zones is taken as a starting point; the relationship between the environmental aridization and soil water in loess ia discussed from the point view of the soil water energy status and their soil water physical characteristics of modem lcessial soils on the Loess Plateau. The soil water content becomes less and less from southeast to northwest, which not only provides favorable conditions for dust production by wind of loess origin, but also reveals that there is obviously a directional change in the environmental drought intensity of the Loess Plateau. Project supported by the key pmject (KZ951-B1-211) of ecological and environmental study of the Chinese Academy of Sciences     

Preliminary study of mollusk fossils in the Qinan Miocene loess-soil sequence in western Chinese Loess Plateau

The Qinan Miocene loess-soil sequence (~22―6.2 Ma)[1] discovered from the Gansu Group[2] several years ago extends the well-known Quaternary loess-soil sequence and the late Tertiary Red Clay se-quence of the Loess Plateau to early Miocene epoch. Most recently, the Dongwan late Miocene–Pliocene loess-soil sequence (~7.1―3.5 Ma)[3] further extends the upper limit of the reported Qinan Miocene loess-soil sequence into the Pliocene. These extensions have great potentials for the study o…     

Erosion characteristics of loess tunnels on the Loess Plateau: A field investigation and experimental study

Loess tunnels are a common geo-hazard in the Loess Plateau and not only cause considerable soil and water loss, but also aggravate and even induce the occurrence and development of other disasters such as ground fissures, mudflows, collapses, and landslides. To date, research on the hydrological characteristics and erosion behaviour of loess tunnel systems has focused on field investigation data and limited river basin observation data, whereas field test information and data are very scarce. In this study, field surveys, observations, field scouring experiments, and laboratory-based sediment percentage tests were conducted to analyse the erosion characteristics, spatial distribution, and hydrological characteristics of a large-scale loess tunnel system in the hilly Loess Plateau southeast region of northern China. The results showed that the loess tunnel erosion exhibited periodicity. Tunnel erosion in each period shows a similar erosion process, that is, thin-layer water flow erosion and lateral expansion, tunnel wall collapse and deposit due to the loss of support from the lateral erosion, and erosion and transport of deposits by water flow. Waterfall erosion, lateral erosion, headward erosion, and the resulting collapses were the main forms of tunnel erosion. Besides this, the base level of erosion significantly affects the erosion characteristics of the loess tunnel. The hydrological characteristics during field scouring experiments exhibited three different stages: a lag effect, attributed to the temporary loss of water velocity in the first stage; small water flow fluctuations in the second stage; and an increase in total seepage loss with increased water injection flow in the third stage. The erosion rate was positively correlated with the flow quantity. The results of this study not only provide valuable reference data for research on the mechanism and velocity of erosion events in loess, but also provide a theoretical basis for the prevention of loess tunnel disasters in engineering construction. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Carbon isotopic composition of modern soil and paleosol as a response to vegetation change on the Chinese Loess Plateau

The relationship between the carbon isotopic composition of paleosols and pale-ovegetation on the Loess Plateau is still unclear. One of the main reasons is that we are short of knowledge about the characteristics of the carbon isotopic composition of modern soil in this area. A preliminary investigation of the carbon isotopic compositions of the modern soil and the loess/paleosol sequence on the Loess Plateau shows that the carbon isotopic composition of modern soil is consistent with the distribution of modern plants on the Loess Plateau, where the ecosystem is dominated by a mixture of C4 and C3 plants. Comparing the δ13C values of modern soil and loess-paleosol sequences from the Xunyi profile, we conclude that C3 plants dominated the landscape during loess sediment stages, while C4 plants expanded during paleosol stages.     

黄土斜坡动力响应特征分析

斜坡动力响应特征与斜坡形态密切相关,若入射地震波主频接近斜坡卓越频率就会放大斜坡动力响应,甚至造成斜坡失稳。汶川地震对远离震中的黄土地区造成了较为严重的破坏,局部场地震害和地震动放大效应显著。选取汶川地震典型黄土斜坡场地,利用地形台阵流动观测和数值模拟计算相结合的方法,系统开展强震动作用下黄土斜坡场地动力响应特征研究。结果表明:坡顶卓越频率最小,其PGA放大系数甚至达到坡底的1.98,这种现象可能与斜坡高差和入射波波长之比密切相关,比值0.2时坡顶放大效应达到最大。随斜坡坡度增加,放大效应增强,坡顶反应谱卓越周期放大系数可达5,说明斜坡地形对强震地面运动有显著影响。数值计算结果与实际强震观测基本吻合,其结果对黄土地区建设工程抗震设防具有重要的科学与实际意义。     

Effect of natural restoration time of abandoned farmland on soil detachment by overland flow in the Loess Plateau of China

Vegetation restoration has significant effects on soil properties and vegetation cover and thus affects soil detachment by overland flow. Few studies have been conducted to evaluate this effect in the Loess Plateau where a Great Green Project was implemented in the past decade. This study was carried out to quantify the effects of age of abandoned farmland under natural vegetation restoration on soil detachment by overland flow and soil resistance to erosion as reflected by soil erodibility and critical shear stress. The undisturbed soil samples were collected from five abandoned farmlands with natural restoration age varying from 3 to 37 years. The samples were subjected to flow scouring in a 4.0 m long by 0.35 m wide hydraulic flume under six different shear stresses ranging from 5.60 to 18.15 Pa. The results showed that the measured soil detachment capacities in currently cultivated farmland were 24.1 to 35.4 times greater than those of the abandoned farmlands. For the abandoned farmlands, soil detachment capacities fluctuated greatly due to the complex effects of root density and biological crust thickness, and could be simulated well by flow shear stress and biological crust thickness with a power function (NSE = 0.851). Soil erodibility of abandoned farmlands decreased gradually with restoration age and reached a steady stage when restoration age was greater than 28 years. The critical shear stress of the natural abandoned farmlands declined when restoration age was less than 18 years and then increased due to the episodic influences of vegetation recovery and biological crust development. More studies in the Loess Plateau are necessary to quantify the relationship between soil detachment capacity and biological crust thickness for better understanding the mechanism of soil detachment under natural vegetation restoration. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Unique landslides (loess slide-flows) induced by an extreme rainstorm in 2018 on the Loess Plateau: A new geological hazard and erosion process

Currently, the vegetation has recovered well in most areas of the Loess Plateau in China, and soil erosion has significantly decreased. However, the heavy rainfall event in July 2018 triggered many instances of a unique type of loess landslides(i.e., slide-flows) on the gully-slopes with vegetation recovery in the Nanxiaohegou Basin on the Loess Plateau. This rainfall event was unusual and was a persistent heavy rainfall. The accumulated rainfall from 24 June to 10 July was 232.2 mm, which compr...     

Origin of the Red Earth sequence on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau and its implications for regional aridity since the middle Miocene

Desiccation in the interior of Asia is an important aspect of paleoclimate change during the Cenozoic era[1,2]. Research[3,4] shows that the widely distributed loess deposits in China were mainly transported by northwesterly and northerly winds from deserts and the Gobi region; in addition, an indispensable re- quirement for the generation of aeolian sediment is the presence of dry lands in central Asia[5,6]. The aeolian deposits in China provide an especially useful record of desiccation pr…     

Temporal variation of stable isotopes in a precipitation–groundwater system: implications for determining the mechanism of groundwater recharge in high mountain–hills of the Loess Plateau,China

The groundwater in shallow loess aquifers in high mountain–hills in the western Loess Plateau in China is almost the sole water resource for local residents. However, the question about how the loess groundwater naturally circulates in these high mountain–hills, characterized by low precipitation and high potential evaporation, remains unclear. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the application of hydrogen and oxygen isotopes to (1) examine temporal variations of the isotopic composition of precipitation and shallow groundwater and (2) uncover the mechanism of groundwater recharge in high mountain–hills. Results from 2 years of monitoring data show a difference in the stable isotopes for groundwater and local precipitation between the winter and summer periods. Similar to precipitation, stable isotopes in groundwater are observed to be depleted in winter and enriched in summer, particularly in oxygen isotope. A prominent characteristic is that H and O isotopes of groundwater show a very clear response to strong precipitation in the rainy season in 2013. The results highlight that local precipitation is the likely recharge source for groundwater in shallow loess aquifers. Annual recharge from local precipitation maintains the groundwater resource in the shallower loess aquifer. The mechanisms governing shallow loess groundwater recharge in high mountain–hills were evaluated. In addition to possible vertical slow percolation of soil water through the unsaturated zone, rapid groundwater recharge mechanisms have been identified as temporal preferential infiltration through sinkholes, slip surface or landslide surface and through the interface of loess layer and palaeo‐soils. Most groundwater can be recharged after a heavy rainy season. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Loess in Kunlun Mountains and its implications on desert development and Tibetan Plateau uplift in west China

Loess on the northern slope of Kunlun Mountains is the synchronous deposition of the Taklimakan Desert. The paleomagnetism and climatic records of an over 80 m loess-paleosol sequence on the highest river terrace at the foot of Kunlun Mountains show that the loess formed at ≈ 880 ka B.P., suggesting a roughly synchronous occurrence of the present-like air circulation and extremely dry climate and the initial desert. The uplift of the Tibetan-Pamir Plateau and Tian-shan Mountains may initiate these events. The rise of the plateau and adjacent mountains caused the drying and desertification of China inland and Tarim Basin, which was dramatically enhanced at ≈ 500 ka B.P., leading the desert to expand to its present scale. Global change just overprints this drying trend. Local climate response to global change both in long-term evolution and glacial-interglacial cycles manifests that the stronger the westerlies, the more the precipitation. But the heat-moisture pattern seems still similar to that in the Asian monsoon region.     

Magnetic properties of Jiaxian red clay sequences from northern Chinese Loess Plateau and its paleoclimatic significance

Rock magnetism research on eolian deposits from the Chinese Loess Plateau shows that magnetite, maghe- mite and hematite are the main magnetic minerals in loess-paleosol sequences and red clay se-quences[1―8], and finds that the magnetic susceptibility increase is positively correlated to the content of ultra-fine minerals and relatively strong pedogene- sis[7―15]. This offers significant information in studying the Late Cenozoic paleoclimatic history of Chinese Loess Plateau[1,5―8,10―22…     

Feedbacks between vegetation restoration and local precipitation over the Loess Plateau in China

The implementation of large-scale vegetation restoration over the Chinese Loess Plateau has achieved clear improvements in vegetation fraction, as evidenced by large areas of slopes and plains being restored to grassland or forest.However, such large-scale vegetation restoration has altered land-atmosphere exchanges of water and energy, as the land surface characteristics have changed. These variations could affect regional climate, especially local precipitation. Quantitatively evaluating this feedback is an important scientific question in hydrometeorology. This study constructs a coupled land-atmosphere model incorporating vegetation dynamics, and analyzes the spatio-temporal changes of different land use types and land surface parameters over the Loess Plateau. By considering the impacts of vegetation restoration on the water-energy cycle and on land-atmosphere interactions, we quantified the feedback effect of vegetation restoration on local precipitation across the Loess Plateau, and discussed the important underlying processes. To achieve a quantitative evaluation, we designed two simulation experiments, comprising a real scenario with vegetation restoration and a hypothetical scenario without vegetation restoration.These enabled a comparison and analysis of the net impact of vegetation restoration on local precipitation. The results show that vegetation restoration had a positive effect on local precipitation over the Loess Plateau. Observations show that precipitation on the Loess Plateau increased significantly, at a rate of 7.84 mm yr~(-2), from 2000 to 2015. The simulations show that the contribution of large-scale vegetation restoration to the precipitation increase was about 37.4%, while external atmospheric circulation changes beyond the Loess Plateau contributed the other 62.6%. The average annual precipitation under the vegetation restoration scenario over the Loess Plateau was 12.4% higher than that under the scenario without vegetation restoration. The above research results have important theoretical and practical significance for the ecological protection and optimal development of the Loess Plateau, as well as the sustainable management of vegetation restoration.