A constant Chinese Loess Plateau dust source since the late Miocene

Bird, Anna; Millar, Ian; Rodenburg, Tanja; Stevens, Thomas; Rittner, Martin; Vermeesch, Pieter; Lu, Huayu

Abstract

© 2019 The Authors The Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary marks a major change in global climate and East Asian monsoon dynamic. However, the role of the global atmospheric dust-cycle over this time is unclear; in particular the degree to which changes in the dust cycle influenced climate change, were driven by climate change, and how these processes interacted. Chinese loess records past dust-cycle history and the influences of aridification and monsoon circulation over the last 40 Ma. Previous work on the Chinese Loess Plateau argue over whether changes in dust source occur at the Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary, or at 1.2 Ma, despite these intervals marking major shifts in monsoon dynamics. We present Sr, Nd and Hf isotope data from multiple sites and show that dust source largely remains unchanged across these boundaries. Shifts in geochemistry are due to changes in grain-size and weathering. While the transport pathway (river, deserts, direct aeolian) is unclear, these tracer isotopes show that dust was dominantly sourced from the Northern Tibetan Plateau, with some input from the local bedrock. This shows that a major established and constant dust source on the Tibetan Plateau has been active and unchanged since late Miocene, despite dramatically changing climate conditions. Changes in loess accumulation are a function of climate change in Tibetan Plateau source regions rather than effects from increased aridification over the Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary.

Citation

Bird, A., Millar, I., Rodenburg, T., Stevens, T., Rittner, M., Vermeesch, P., & Lu, H. (2020). A constant Chinese Loess Plateau dust source since the late Miocene. Quaternary science reviews, 227, 106042. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.106042

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 29, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Nov 22, 2019
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2020
• Deposit Date: Nov 25, 2019
• Journal: Quaternary Science Reviews
• Print ISSN: 0277-3791
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 227
• Pages: 106042
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.106042
• Keywords: Quaternary; Neogene; Palaeoclimate; China; Loess; Radiogenic isotopes
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3242183
• Additional Information: This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: A constant Chinese Loess Plateau dust source since the late Miocene; Journal Title: Quaternary Science Reviews; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.106042; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
• Contract Date: Nov 25, 2019