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ENHANCED AEOLIAN ACTIVITIES IN THE MIDDLE YANGTZE RIVER BASIN DURING MIS2: EVIDENCE FROM RADIOCARBON DATING OF SAND HILLS AND LOESS SEDIMENTS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2020

Zhi Zhang Open the ORCID record for Zhi Zhang [Opens in a new window] ,
Yulian Jia  and
Yeqiao Wang
Zhi Zhang*
Affiliation:
School of Geography and Environment, Key Laboratory of Poyang Lake Wetland and Watershed Research, Ministry of Education, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang330022, China College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangxi Normal University, Nangchang, China
Yulian Jia
Affiliation:
School of Geography and Environment, Key Laboratory of Poyang Lake Wetland and Watershed Research, Ministry of Education, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang330022, China
Yeqiao Wang
Affiliation:
School of Geography and Environment, Key Laboratory of Poyang Lake Wetland and Watershed Research, Ministry of Education, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang330022, China Department of Natural Resources Science, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].
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Abstract

Aeolian deposits are widely distributed in the middle Yangtze River Basin (YRB), central China. The formation of those aeolian deposits (including aeolian sands and loess deposits) represented the deterioration of local environment. Previous geochronological studies have shown that both aeolian sands and loess began to be deposited in the last interglacial (~100 ka). In this study, a total of four and six accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon (AMS 14C) samples were collected from a sand hill and a loess section, respectively, in the Jiujiang area to refine their chronology. Charcoals extracted from bulk samples were employed for AMS 14C dating. The sand layer at the lower part of the HG-C section is sandwiched by two mud layers dated to 26,670–26,285 and 24,480–24,180 cal BP, respectively. Therefore, we infer that aeolian activities in this region started at ~25 ka BP, which was significantly younger than that of previous studies. Meanwhile, thick loess began to deposit leeward of the sand hills in this region. Based on the AMS14C chronology and provenance tracing, we conclude that the loess was essentially the fine-grained aeolian deposits. Our results suggest that topography and vegetation cover have an important effect on the spatial distribution of aeolian deposits in this region.

Keywords

aeolian depositsAMS 14C datingdeposits modeMIS2Yangtze River Basin
Type
Research Article
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 62 , Issue 5 , October 2020 , pp. 1475 - 1488
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© 2020 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona

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