Zhu Zhao-yu

Different climatic controls of soil delta C-13(org) in three mid-latitude regions of the Northern Hemisphere since the Last Glacial period

Paleoecological records of soil δ13Corg from three regions in the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, including the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP), the Great Plains and adjacent areas of North America and northwestern Europe, showed different variations since the Last Glacial period. An attempt was made to evaluate the causes for the difference in δ13Corg on the basis of the modern climatic data collected in these regions and of the modern C3 and C4 plant distributions. The analysis indicates that temperature, especially the growing season temperature, has a dominant control on the growth of C4 plants. When the mean annual or growing season temperatures are below the “threshold value”, the growth of C4 plants is limited. When the temperature is above the “threshold value”, C4 plants can grow under a wide range of precipitation. However, when the precipitation is high enough to favor the growth of trees, the proportions of C4 plants in local biomass will decline. The implicit control factor recovered by sedimentary records is consistent with the control factor on modern C3/C4 distribution. Pure C3 plants have been dominating the local biomass since the Last Glacial period in European loess region, mainly owing to the low local temperature. The increases in C4 plants from the late Pleistocene to the Holocene in the Chinese Loess Plateau, the Great Plains and adjacent areas, mainly reflect the influence of increasing temperature.

Rock magnetic properties and palaeomagnetic results of sediments from a stone implement layer in the Bose Basin, Guangxi

Directional samples were taken to study rock magnetism and palaeomagnetic records from the Dongsheng profile, which is 5 m thick and on the northwest edge of the Bose Basin. Mineralogy and rock magnetism of typical samples indicate that coarse granular titanomagnetite, and fine-grained hematite, superparamagnetic maghemite formed by pedogenesis are in the sediment, which has undergone many transformative processes during different stages of pedogenesis. Parallel samples were taken for thermal demagnetization (TH) (0 to 680°C) and alternating field (AF) demagnetization (0 to 80 mT) respectively. Experimental results of these two kinds of demagnetization illustrate that there are two or more magnetic components in the samples. Intensity of NRM decreases by almost 60% to 90% rapidly when the temperature ranges from 100°C to 350°C, with a steady magnetic component. It is impossible to analyze the magnetic components at high temperature because those fluctuate widely when the temperature is higher than 400°C. Steady magnetic components from 100°C to 350°C indicate that the remanence was mainly carried by fine-grained hematite formed by pedogenesis, reflecting a change in the geomagnetic field while the magnetite was being oxidized into hematite by chemical weathering after deposition. The formative age of the sediments cannot be obtained by magnetic methods in this profile.

A loess-paleosol dating method

Based on the non-diachronic nature of loess- paleosol sequences, a paleosol dating method is suggested. Based on this method, the extant drainage system of the Yellow River was found to be 1.67-1.45 Ma old. During its existence, six fluvial terraces and two alluvial plains were formed. In the deposits of this time interval, studied in 400 sections, 33 cycles were identified in the sequence built of aquatic sediments and paleosol. Correlation of loess, paleosol, and aquatic sediment sequences of China and other regions points to a 0.4 Ma periodicity in the hydrologic regime and in the denudational processes. This periodicity might be related to global climatic changes due to changes of orbital parameters of the Earth.

Non-linear Analyses of Some Geochemical Indexes of Tianshuihai Lake Core TS95 and Their Implications

Correlation fractal analysis and R/S analysis of four indexes from Core TS95, Tianshuihai Lake, western Tibetan Plateau, FeO, Fe 2O 3, the ratio of Fe 2O 3/FeO, and organic carbon, are conducted. It is found obviously that the 4 time series are chaotic and have Hurst phenomena. The chaotic or abnormal attractors for FeO, Fe 2O 3, Fe 2O 3/FeO and organic carbon are 2.8, 3.2, 2.9 and 2.5 respectively with saturated embedded dimensions ranging from 5 to 6, suggesting that the dynamic system controlling the local climatic and environmental evolution is chaotic. It has definte variables. To establish the system, at least 3 to 4 variables, at most 5-6 variables, are needed. This generally agrees with deep sea oxygen isotope and differs by large from some climatic indexes of loess profiles. The Hurst indexes of the four proxies are FeO 0.85, Fe 2O 3 0.76, Fe 2O 3/FeO 0.65 and organic carbon 0.74 respectively, indicating that they have obviously long run dependence persistence. This is in accordance with previous studies [13-15] . The persistence results most probably from the uplift of Tibetan Plateau. This suggests that in addition to the global vacillation of climate and environment, some local factors such as the uplift of Tibetan Plateau and the change in Tianshuihai Lake drain age, have probably played a role on the proxies of climate and environment. The differences between the four Hurst indexes result possibly from the relatively easy migration of FeO that is influenced by the hydrological change of the drainage. The organic carbon and Fe 2O 3, the two of the four, are probably more suitable to extract the persistence component of environmental evolution.