Donghuai Sun

Grain-size distribution function of polymodal sediments in hydraulic and aeolian environments, and numerical partitioning of the sedimentary components

Most continental sediments are polymodal, composed of overlapping components of which the grain size generally obeys some type of natural distribution. The grain-size components and their function types can be determined from frequency and cumulative curve plots in order to define the function formula of the grain-size distribution. The function parameters can be estimated by fitting a defined function formula to the measured grain-size data of the sample, which simultaneously achieves numerical partitioning of the sedimentary components. Genetic analysis of grain-size components of hydraulic and aeolian sediments demonstrates the following environmental implications: Fluvial sediment is composed of isolated saltation and suspension components. The sediments in closed lake basins are dominated by a suspension silt-clay component with a small proportion of saltation sand. The fine sand component makes up the majority of desert sand, overlapping with a small proportion of fine dust. Aeolian loess is composed of two overlapping components: a short suspension-time silt component and a long suspension-time fine component. Aeolian material in the North Pacific deep-sea sediments is dominated by long suspension-time fine dust. The fine component in aeolian sediments shows a consistent grain-size distribution and genetic connection from the desert sand, loess of northern China to the North Pacific Ocean, which is mainly transported by westerly winds and is dispersed in the atmosphere, forming a background dust

Bimodal grain-size distribution of Chinese loess, and its palaeoclimatic implications

Grain-size analysis indicates that Chinese loess generally shows a bimodal distribution with a coarse and a fine component. The coarse component, comprising the main part of the loess, has pronounced kurtosis and is well sorted, which is interpreted to be the product of dust storms generated by low-altitude northwesterly winds. Its grain-size reflects the strength of the low-altitude circulation in the dust seasons of the year, and its percentage provides an indicator of the source area aridity and the frequency of dust storms. Conversely, the fine component has a wide grain-size range and is poorly sorted. Sedimentary illustrations based on the grain-size distribution characteristics of bulk samples and of detrital quartz suggest that the fine component probably represents the background dust load of the atmosphere and is mainly transported by high-altitude westerly airstreams. Its grain-size provides an estimate of the westerly air stream intensity. The coarse and fine components of a loess sample can be mathematically separated by fitting a designated mathematical distribution function to the measured grain-size data, and this procedure constitutes an approach for reconstructing the palaeowind system of Northern China

Pathways of dust input to the Chinese Loess Plateau during the last glacial and interglacial periods

Abstract It has been established that loess deposited on the Chinese Loess Plateau was derived from arid and semi-arid regions in north and northwest China, but the specific pathways of dust transport are still not proved. In this study, 32 loess–palaeosol profiles of the last glacial and interglacial periods were measured for magnetic susceptibility in order to investigate the dust transport pathways of dust input to the Loess Plateau. The magnetic susceptibility variations of the loess–palaeosol deposits within the last glacial cycle can be correlated with marine oxygen isotope variations to estimate the ages of boundaries of the loess units and intercalated palaeosols. The sedimentation rate of each depositional unit can be obtained by dividing the thickness by the time that it represents. Because sedimentation rates decrease downwind from the dust source, the spatial distribution of dust sedimentation rates shows that northwest and west winds were the two most important agents for transport of dust to the Loess Plateau during the last glacial cycle. The north and northeast winds played an almost negligible role. In addition, topography and dust from local sources strongly affected the dust accumulation rates at some measured sites.

Magnetostratigraphy and palaeoclimate of Red Clay sequences from Chinese Loess Plateau

Two Red Clay profiles near Xi’an and Xifeng were investigated in an attempt to determine magnetostratigraphic and palaeoclimatic records. The results show that aeolian dust accumulation and the related East Asia palaeomonsoon system had begun by 6.5 Ma, and it is deduced that the Tibetan Plateau had reached a significant elevation at that time. The late Tertiary palaeoclimatic history of the Red Clay as reflected by magnetic susceptibility is reconstructed during the period of 6.5–2.5 Ma. Stepwise increase in susceptibility of aeolian dust accumulation appears to have a close correlation to the uplift processes of the Tibetan Plateau. The remarkable increase of aeolian dust accumulation at 3.2 Ma appears to be due to the influence of global ice volume on the East Asia monsoon. Palaeomonsoon variation during the late Tertiary as recorded in the Red Clay sequences from the Chinese Loess Plateau can be regarded as the product of a number of interacting factors, such as uplift of the Tibetan Plateau, solar radiation, global ice volume, etc.

Eolian evidence from the Chinese Loess Plateau: the onset of the Late Cenozoic Great Glaciation in the Northern Hemisphere and Qinghai-Xizang Plateau uplift forcing

On the basis of a newly-constructed record of magnetic susceptibility (SUS) and the depositional rate change of eolian loess-red clay sequences in the last 7.2 Ma BP from the hea Plateau, together with a cornperison of a record of °18O values from the equatorial East Pacific Ocean and eolian Quartz flux variations fmm the North Pacific Ocean, the evolutiomuy process of the Late Cenozoic Great Glaciation in the Northern Hemisphere can be divided into three stages: the arrival stage around 7.2–3.4 Ma BP, the initial stage at about 3.4—2.6 Ma BP, and the Great Ice Age since 2.6 Ma BP. The evolution of the East Asian monsoon is characterized by paid winter and summer monsoons, and it is basically composed of the initial stage of weak winter and summer monsoons, the transitional stage of simultaneous increase in intensity of winter and summer monsoons, and the prevailing stage of strong winter and week summer monsoons, or weak winter and strong summer monsoons. The Late Cenowic global tectonic uplift, paaicdarly the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau uplift and the associated CO2 concentration variation, controls the dng processes of the onset of Great Glaciation and the long-term changes of East Asian monsoom climate in the Northern Hemisphere to a large extent. The accelerating uplift of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau between 3.4 and 2.6 Ma BP provided an important driving force to global climiatic change.

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.