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[1] Quaternary glacial/interglacial cycles have been imprinted on the Chinese loess/ paleosol sequences through pedogenesis. In order to accurately decode the paleoclimatic signals carried by these pedogenic particles it is essential to quantify the pedogenically produced magnetic particles in terms of mineralogy as well as grain size distribution (GSD). To date, the GSD has not been accurately determined because of the dearth of available means for analyzing extremely fine grained (nanometer-scale) pedogenic magnetic particles. Using low-temperature techniques, we systematically investigated the temperature dependency of c fd (defined as c 1Hz À c 10Hz , where c 1Hz and c 10Hz are AC magnetic susceptibility measured at 1 and 10 Hz, respectively) from two characteristic loess profiles, one located at the western Chinese Loess Plateau and the other in the central plateau. On the basis of Néel theory for a shape anisotropy dominant grain and experimental analysis at low temperatures, a quantitative GSD for pedogenic particles in Chinese loess/paleosols was constructed. We found that the dominant magnetic grain size lies just above the superparamagnetic/single-domain threshold ($20-25 nm) and that the GSD is almost independent of the degree of pedogenesis. This observation agrees well with other constraints from previous studies. This new GSD model improves our understanding of the pedogenic processes in Chinese loess, enabling further explicit linkage of environmental magnetism to paleoclimate changes.

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Coring/logging data and physical property measurements from International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 349 are integrated with, and correlated to, reflection seismic data to map seismic sequence boundaries and facies of the central basin and neighboring regions of the South China Sea. First-order sequence boundaries are interpreted, which are Oligocene/Miocene, middle Miocene/late Miocene, Miocene/Pliocene, and Pliocene/Pleistocene boundaries. A characteristic early Pleistocene strong reflector is also identified, which marks the top of extensive carbonate-rich deposition in the southern East and Southwest Subbasins. The fossil spreading ridge and the boundary between the East and Southwest Subbasins acted as major sedimentary barriers, across which seismic facies changes sharply and cannot be easily correlated. The sharp seismic facies change along the Miocene-Pliocene boundary indicates that a dramatic regional tectonostratigraphic event occurred at about 5 Ma, coeval with the onsets of uplift of Taiwan and accelerated subsidence and transgression in the northern margin. The depocenter or the area of the highest sedimentation rate switched from the northern East Subbasin during the Miocene to the Southwest Subbasin and the area close to the fossil ridge in the southern East Subbasin in the Pleistocene. The most active faulting and vertical uplifting now occur in the southern East Subbasin, caused most likely by the active and fastest subduction/obduction in the southern segment of the Manila Trench and the collision between the northeast Palawan and the Luzon arc. Timing of magmatic intrusions and seamounts constrained by seismic stratigraphy in the central basin varies and does not show temporal pulsing in their activities.LI ET AL.

International audienceA holistic view of the Bengal–Nicobar Fan system requires sampling the full sedimentary section of the Nicobar Fan, which was achieved for the first time by International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 362 west of North Sumatra. We identified a distinct rise in sediment accumulation rate (SAR) beginning ∼9.5 Ma and reaching 250–350 m/Myr in the 9.5–2 Ma interval, which equal or far exceed rates on the Bengal Fan at similar latitudes. This marked rise in SAR and a constant Himalayan-derived provenance necessitates a major restructuring of sediment routing in the Bengal–Nicobar submarine fan. This coincides with the inversion of the Eastern Himalayan Shillong Plateau and encroachment of the west-propagating Indo–Burmese wedge, which reduced continental accommodation space and increased sediment supply directly to the fan. Our results challenge a commonly held view that changes in sediment flux seen in the Bengal–Nicobar submarine fan were caused by discrete tectonic or climatic events acting on the Himalayan–Tibetan Plateau. Instead, an interplay of tectonic and climatic processes caused the fan system to develop by punctuated changes rather than gradual progradation