| Abstract: | The pedogenic ferrimagnetic minerals have been considered to be the cause of magnetic susceptibility enhancement in loess
deposits distributing in the Chinese Loess Plateau and Central Europe, while “wind intensity” mechanism is proposed to be
responsible for the magnetic susceptibility enhancement of loess in Alaska and Siberia. However, the magnetic enhancement
mechanism is still open for loess in Ili valley, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. To understand this, we conducted
a rock magnetic investigation on Axike section that is located in Ili valley. Results show that transitional stage from magnetic
(χlf) trough to magnetic (χlf) peak corresponds to soil units. The PSD and MD-grained magnetite dominate the magnetic properties of AXK sequences, and
the main factor affecting magnetic properties is the concentration of ferrimagnetic fraction. For the “pedogenesis enhancement”
and “wind intensity” model, it seems hard to explain the magnetic susceptibility enhancement in this area. For the concentration
of fine-grained magnetite in magnetic mineral shows positive relationship with the intensity of pedogenesis, the magnetic
parameters of loess deposit in Ili valley can be used to recover paleoclimatic variations. |
