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An 8.1Ma calcite record of Asian summer monsoon evolution on the Chinese central Loess Plateau

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Abstract

Carbonates in loess-red clay sequences consist mainly of calcite and dolomite. The EDTA analysis of carbonates in different size fractions and magnetic susceptibility reveal that calcite is a sensitive index of summer monsoon. The chemical analysis of carbonates and calcite from an 8.1 Ma loess-red clay sequence at Chaona on the Chinese central Loess Plateau shows that the evolution of the Asian summer monsoon experienced four stages, namely 8.1–5.5 Ma, 5.5–2.8 Ma, 2.8–1.5 Ma and 1.5–0 Ma, with increasing intensification and fluctuation, suggesting a possible combining impacts of uplift of the Tibetan Plateau and global changes on the Asian summer monsoon.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (MOE) and College of Resources and Environment, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Chen XiuLing, Fang XiaoMin, Han WenXia & Hong Ye

  2. Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China

    Chen XiuLing, Fang XiaoMin & Bai Yan

  3. State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an, 710075, China

    An ZhiSheng

  4. College of Atmospheric Science, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Wang Xin

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  1. Chen XiuLing
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  2. Fang XiaoMin
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  4. Han WenXia
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Correspondence to Fang XiaoMin.

Additional information

Supported by NSFC Group Funds (Grant Nos. 40421101 and 40334038), the National Key Basic Research Project on the Tibetan Plateau (Grant No. 2005CB422000) and the Hundred Talents Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Renjiaozi [2000] 05).

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Chen, X., Fang, X., An, Z. et al. An 8.1Ma calcite record of Asian summer monsoon evolution on the Chinese central Loess Plateau. SCI CHINA SER D 50, 392–403 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-007-0016-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-007-0016-x

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