Dust source of the Holocene loess-soil and pedogenic environmental changes in the upper Huaihe River

Abstract

Based on field surveys, soil samples were collected at the YPC site, Yuzhou City, Henan Province for analysis of contents of major and trace elements and their variations with XRF and comparison with the curves of magnetic susceptibility, pH value distribution, loss on ignition and particle-size distribution. It was concluded that the dust source of loess in the upper reaches of the Huaihe River Basin was different from that in the Loess Plateau. And the Holocene pedogenic environmental changes in the upper reaches of the Huaihe River Basin were revealed.

Geochemical and Clay-Size Minerals Evidence for the Provenance of LQC Loess Deposits in the Central Shandong, Northern China

“…As for the Yellow River sediments and XF loess of the Loess Plateau has relatively the low content of kaolinite, feldspar, quartz, that is similar each other, the reason is that the two have a certain relationship. As previous studies show (Li et al,2009), the Yellow River sediments partly come from the Loess Plateau heavily eroded in the middle reaches by the Yellow River, It flows slowly down with sediment deposition in the lower reaches of the the Yellow River , long and long, The Yellow flood plain and the North China Plain is formed.…”

Fluvial Responses to Late Quaternary Climate Change in a Humid and Semi-Humid Transitional Area: Insights from the Upper Huaihe River, Eastern China

“…In addition, the clay content of the Yuzhou loess record gradually increased from 11.5 to 8.5 ka, reaching its maximum at 8.5-3.1 ka before decreasing after 3.1 ka [32]. However, the clay content of the Yuzhou profile increased again after 1.5 ka [32], potentially indicating that there was a certain humidifying trend after 1.5 ka. Historical documents for the past 1,000 yr indicate that the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) that occurred in the Jiang-Huai area (east of 105 • E; ~31-34 • N) was warm and dry, while the Little Ice Age (LIA) was cold and wet [42][43][44].…”

“…Abundant evidence has suggested that significant climatic fluctuations occurred in the HHR Basin during the Late Quaternary [31][32][33][34][35]. A summary of Late Quaternary paleoclimates in the HHR Basin is detailed below and summarized in Table 1.…”

“…The stalagmite record from Magou Cave shows that monsoonal precipitation in the region gradually increased from 11.2 to 9.1 ka and maintained a relatively high value from 9.1 to 4.9 ka [41]. In addition, the clay content of the Yuzhou loess record gradually increased from 11.5 to 8.5 ka, reaching its maximum at 8.5-3.1 ka before decreasing after 3.1 ka [32]. However, the clay content of the Yuzhou profile increased again after 1.5 ka [32], potentially indicating that there was a certain humidifying trend after 1.5 ka.…”

“…During this transition period, the regional climate became increasingly unstable, as indicated by loess (Figure 10d) [45] and peat records (Figure 10e) [64]. Moreover, there is evidence that there was a relatively warm, humid, and increasingly unstable climate in the HHR Basin during this transition period [31,32,45,46]. For example, the grain size of fine particles (1-5 µm) in the Yuzhou loess profile increases until it eventually reaches its largest value during the Holocene (Figure 10a) [32].…”