The Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Whitemud Formation is a potentially commercial kaolin deposit located in southern Saskatchewan and southeastern Alberta. The Whitemud Formation contains a lower kaolinitic sandstone, a middle lignite and carbonaceous shale, and an upper interbedded siltstone and claystone. The sediments that comprise the rocks of the Whitemud Formation were deposited on alluvial or upper deltaic plains located along the northwest flank of the Williston Basin.

Mineralogy and textures were determined by X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and optical microscopy. Kaolinite abundance increases upward from the underlying rocks of the Eastend Formation through the Whitemud Formation, and the abundance of smectite, micas, and feldspars decreases from the Eastend Formation into the Whitemud Formation. Vermiform kaolinite crystals are in close spatial association with feldspar and mica grains. Near the top of the Whitemud Formation, etched quartz and feldspar grains, and gibbsite suggest the presence of a strong chemical leaching environment.

Mineral distributions, presence of root remains, pedologic mottles, grain coatings composed of clay, and soil horizons indicate the Whitemud Formation sediments were modified by intense weathering in a paleosol environment.

Kaolin concentrated from selected kaolinitic sandstone deposits, and beneficiated by oxidation, leaching, and high-intensity wet-magnetic separation has a product brightness up to filler quality. Recovery of lowabrasion kaolin is low and viscosity of a fine-particle kaolin fraction is high. Economics of producing a wet-processed filler-grade kaolin is marginal.

The Younger Toba Tuff (YTT) eruption is regarded as one of the largest of its time and possibly responsible for changing past climate and vegetation from C3 to C4 in the Indian subcontinent. A paleosol constituting a Toba pre-tephra horizon at the Jwalapuram locality, exhibits the preservation of biogenic structures identified as Vondrichnus planoglobus and Vondrichnus obovatus. This study investigated their paleoecological and paleoenvironmental significance. These structures are hard and compact, rounded to sub-rounded, spherical to sub-spherical bodies with empty chambers, surrounded by carbonate layers, and preserved in close proximity to termite pipes and nests and rhizolith structures. Their occurrence in the Jwalapuram area is significant, as the locality has been well documented as suitable for reconstruction of past climate and vegetation in light of the impact of the YTT eruption. Based on the present findings, we assume that the investigated locality would likely have an insect population and bush to scrub vegetation, indicating a dry environment immediately before the YTT eruption.

Pennsylvanian underclay from Illinois is characterized by well-developed mineral zonation: towards the coal bed, marly limestone gradually evolves into carbonate-free clay, chlorite becomes undetectable and illite/smectite changes from ordered and illite-dominated into random and smectite-dominated, with both types present in the middle of the profile. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations of the bulk material imply that disappearance of calcite is due to dissolution. Movement of SiO2 in the upper part of the profile is evidenced by quartz cementation of clay aggregates; crystallization of kaolinite, by the presence of vermicular aggregates absent from less-altered samples. Illitic material in unaltered (limestone) samples consists of rare, large, Al-rich crystals of mica, interpreted as detrital, and abundant thin crystals of illite/smectite intimately mixed in approximately equal proportions with even thinner crystals of discrete illite. Both are more Mg- and Fe-rich than the large mica crystals and are interpreted as diagenetic, based on their 1Md polytype and the correlation with coal rank. Illitic material of the upper, carbonate-free section of the profile contains the same 3 types of crystals, but in different proportions: illite/smectite crystals dominate and their composition is more smectitic. Two distinct morphologies of the aggregates of crystals with different proportions of the component layers are observed. It explains why 2 different illite/smectites are detectable by X-ray diffraction (XRD) in these samples. The analysis of chemical data suggests that the underclay is a residue after dissolution of all of the calcite and half of the quartz from the original limestone (paleosol and/or telogenetic process). The TEM observations are not decisive regarding the origin of variation within the illitic material. It may result from burial diagenetic illitization of more-smectitic material, similar to the composition preserved in the center of underclay profile, or it may represent telogenetic alteration of illitic clay by acid waters penetrating down from the coal bed. The aggradation model explains the increase in percent K2O, MgO and illite layers in the uppermost part of the profile. Whichever is the direction of reaction, it proceeds on an aggregate-by-aggregate basis and not fundamental particle-by-particle, and cannot be explained by simple opening or collapse of interlayers.

Clay mineral compositions from 2 paleosol profiles (Chu-Wan, CW, and Shiao-Men Yu, SMY, profiles) on the late-Miocene sediments in Penghu Islands (Pescadores), Taiwan, are characterized by random X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). By the clay assemblage of the paleosol profile, we want to explore the probable formation mode of the Penghu paleosols.

The paleosol profiles in study are overlain by a layer of basalt flow. However, the clay mineralogy of the 2 paleosols was not altered metasomatically after burial. Results show that 3 distinctive zones of different dominating kaolin-group minerals are apparent in the profiles. In descending order, they are: 1) spheroidal, hollow 7Å-halloysite, 2) platy, irregular-shaped and disordered kaolinite, and 3) platy, irregular-shaped, disordered kaolinite. The relative crystallinity of kaolin minerals of the 3 layers is: layer 2 > layer 3 > layer 1. On the basis of the XRD, TEM analyses and the crystallinity calculations, the distribution of kaolin in Penghu paleosol profiles appears to be unique. Penghu paleosol profiles show systematic change in kaolin crystallinity and polymorphs with depth. Because the clay type is heterogeneous within the profile, this represents that Penghu paleosol profiles were polypedogenic.

The contact between the upper basalt and the paleosol is the erosion surface, so we do not know exactly what the thickness of the original paleosol was. The first layer (about 20 cm) of the profiles appears to be constituents of the original paleosol. It contains high contents of pedogenic (in situ weathering) hematites and 7Å-halloysites, which implies that the local climate of the Penghu Islands at late Miocene was warm and humid. Intense leaching and dry/wet cycle should be the reason for high contents of halloysite (>60%) in the Penghu paleosols. Laterization was the probable pedogenic process for the formation of the paleosols.

The Güzelöz-İncesu Plateaus are situated in the central and eastern parts of the Cappadocian volcanic province (central Anatolia). This province contains many ignimbrite levels, andesite, basalt intercalated with several paleosols, calcrete, carbonate, fluvial sediments, diatomaceous clayey sediments and pyroclastic sedimentary levels. The presence of mottling, sesquioxide, root traces, rhizoids and burrows in continuous, finely bedded and laminated sediments, paleosols, calcrete, the occurrence of bone- and teeth-bearing reworked pyroclastic materials, and the description of the lithofacies in the study area indicate fluvial and shallow-lake environments. These environments are dominated by smectite and illite, with traces of kaolinite, associated mainly with plagioclase, K-feldspar, quartz, calcite, opal-CT, pyroxene (diopside, rare hypersthene), and locally trace amounts of gypsum and sepiolite. Smectite predominates in paleosols and calcrete units, and generally increases upwards in the profiles, coinciding with a gradual increase in the degree of alteration. Partial to complete alteration of plagioclase, K-feldspar, pyroxene and partial devitrification of glass-shard particles in pyroclastic rocks, development of microsparitic to sparitic cement comprising euhedral rhombic calcite crystals between irregular clay nodules in paleosol and calcrete samples, along with the occurrence of dogtooth-type sparitic crystals in fractures, desiccation cracks and geopetal-type fenestrae, indicate alternating periods of drought and wet, resulting in the development of paleosols and calcretes. Micromorphological development of spongiform smectite on mainly relict feldspar and, locally, on glass shards, indicates an authigenic origin, whereas illite formed either authigenically or by conversion of smectite to illite-smectite.

This paper presents 66 radiocarbon (14C) dates obtained at 33 key sites from the Polish part of the European Sand Belt. These calibrated dating results were compared to 34 high-resolution 14C dates obtained from a fluvial-aeolian sediments to identify pedogenic phases from the late Pleniglacial interval to the early Holocene. These identified pedogenic phases were correlated with Greenland ice-core records, revealing high sensitivity of the fluvio-aeolian paleoenvironment to climate changes. Two pedogenic phases were identified from the late Pleniglacial interval (Greenland Stadial GS-2.1b and GS-2.1a), three from the Bølling-Allerød interstadial (Greenland Stadial GI-1), one from the late Allerød–Younger Dryas boundary, and at least one from the Younger Dryas. The ages of these pedogenic phases reveal a distinct delay of 50–100 calendar years after the onset of cool climate conditions during GI-1, reflecting gradual withdrawal of vegetation. Soil horizons from the early Holocene do not show any clear relation with climate change, where breaks in soil formation were caused by local factors such as human activity.

We conducted the first detailed mineral magnetic investigation of more than nine loess–paleosol couplets of the composite Titel-Stari Slankamen loess section in Serbia, which provides one of the longest and most complete terrestrial record of paleoclimatic changes in Europe since ~1.0 Ma. The results show that the ferrimagnetic mineral assemblage of the loess units is dominated by partially oxidized multidomain (MD) and pseudo-single domain (PSD) magnetite; however, with an increasing degree of pedogenesis, the eolian contribution is gradually masked by pedogenic superparamagnetic(SP) and single-domain (SD) ferrimagnets (mainly maghemite). The overall consistency of ferrimagnetic grain-size parameters indicates an absence of dissolution of the fine-grained ferrimagnetic fraction despite changes in climate regime over the past 1.0 Ma. The variations of normalized dJ/dT@120K and normalized χheating@530°C reflect a long-term stepwise increase in aridity during glacials with a major step at ~0.6–0.5 Ma, over the last 1.0 Ma. Overall, the results provide an improved basis for the future use of the magnetic properties of Serbian loess deposits for paleoclimatic reconstruction.

Paleoenvironmental reconstructions are commonly based on isotopic signatures of a variety of carbonate types, including rhizoliths and land-snail shells, present in paleosol-loess sequences. However, various carbonate types are formed through distinct biotic and abiotic processes over various periods, and therefore may record diverging environmental information in the same sedimentological layer. Here, we investigate the effects of carbonate type on δ13C, δ18O, and clumped isotope-derived paleotemperature [T(Δ47)] from the Quaternary Nussloch paleosol-loess sequence (Rhine Valley, SW Germany). δ13C, δ18O, and T(Δ47) values of co-occurring rhizoliths (-8.2‰ to -5.8‰, -6.1‰ to -5.9‰, 12–32°C, respectively), loess dolls (-7.0‰, -5.6‰, 23°C), land-snail shells (-8.1‰ to -3.2‰, -4.0‰ to -2.2‰, 12–38°C), earthworm biospheroliths (-11‰, -4.7‰, 8°C), and “bulk” carbonates (-1.9‰ to -0.5‰, -5.6‰ to -5.3‰, 78–120°C) from three sediment layers depend systematically on the carbonate type, admixture from geogenic carbonate, and the duration of formation periods. Based on these findings, we provide a comprehensive summary for the application of the three isotopic proxies of δ13C, δ18O, and Δ47 in biogenic and pedogenic carbonates present in the same sediment layer to reconstruct paleoenvironments (e.g., local vegetation, evaporative conditions, and temperature). We conclude that bulk carbonates in Nussloch loess should be excluded from paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Instead, pedogenic and biogenic carbonates should be used to provide context for interpreting the isotopic signature for detailed site- and time-specific paleoenvironmental information.

Despite many ideas about the age and processes of sand movements and paleosol formation, there are still some uncertainties in this relations in the Nyírség, eastern Hungary. The major aim of the present study was to clarify the chronology of fossil soils and blown-sand layers in the sand dunes of the Nyírség using radiocarbon (14C) dating on soil and charcoal samples. Charcoal and soil samples were collected from buried paleosols from different sand quarries for 14C dating. The bulk organic carbon content of the buried soil and charcoal pieces recovered from buried fossil soil layers allowed parallel 14C accelerator mass spectrometry dating in several cases. The new 14C results indicate paleosol development during Younger Dryas, while the preceding interstadial was assumed as a cold and dry period when only sand movement occurred in the area. Our results also confirm and support the previous assumptions, that in the Late Glacial, the first paleosol development period was during the Bølling-Allerød Interstadial. Four soil-forming periods could be determined during the Holocene (Preboreal, Boreal, Atlantic, Subatlantic). We have also indirectly identified sand movements during the Oldest Dryas, Younger Dryas, Preboreal, Boreal, and Subatlantic phase in the study area.

The Channeled Scabland–Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest (PNW) of the United States preserves geomorphic and pedosedimentary records that inform understanding of late Pleistocene–Holocene paleoclimate change in a region proximal to the last glacial period Cordilleran Ice Sheet. We present a clumped (Δ47) and conventional (δ18O, δ13C) isotopic study of Palouse loess–paleosol carbonates in combination with carbonate radiocarbon (14C) dating to provide new measures of regional late–last glacial (~31–20 cal ka BP) and Holocene soil conditions. Average clumped isotope temperatures (T(Δ47)) for last glacial Palouse loess–paleosol carbonates (9±4°C) are significantly lower than those for Holocene-aged carbonates (T(Δ47)=18±2°C) in study sections. Calculated soil water δ18OVSMOW values (−16±2‰) for last glacial carbonates are also offset relative to those for Holocene-aged samples (−11±1‰), whereas calculated soil CO2 δ13CVPDB values are similar for the Holocene (−16.9±0.2‰) and late–last glacial (−16.7±1.1‰) periods. Together, these paleoclimate metrics indicate late–last glacial conditions of pedogenic carbonate formation in the C3 grassland soils of the Palouse were measurably colder (9±5°C) than during the Holocene and potentially reflect a more arid last glacial paleoclimate across the Palouse, findings in agreement with previous proxy studies and climate model simulations for the region.

Loess is common in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States south of the Late Wisconsinan glacial border particularly along rivers draining the glaciated areas of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. The broadest deposits occur on the flat landscapes of the Delmarva Peninsula in Maryland where two episodes of deposition have been identified. The earlier Miles Point Loess has a limited distribution and is buried by the more widespread Paw Paw Loess. OSL and 14C dates place deposition of the Miles Point Loess during MIS 3. The well developed paleosol formed in the Miles Point Loess acts as a stratigraphic marker. The Paw Paw Loess buries Clovis age cultural materials which date deposition to the end of the Pleistocene. Loess deposits and paleosols are critical in understanding regional landscape evolution, Late Pleistocene environments, and early North American cultural history. Mapping the extent of loess in the Mid-Atlantic using the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s gSSURGO database overrepresents loess in some areas and underrepresents in others.

We report on a loess-paleosol sequence (LPS) near Remizovka, located in the northern Tian Shan piedmont of southeastern Kazakhstan. This site represents a key record for Late Pleistocene climatic fluctuations at the intersection of major northern hemisphere climate subsystems. This paper develops a synthesized dataset of previous conflicting studies at Remizovka by characterizing their (paleo)topographic context, which had remained previously overlooked. Digital elevation models, satellite images, and archival photography characterize recent topographic developments. Two well-developed pedocomplexes, which we investigate in detail and date by luminescence mark the paleotopography during Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 5. Peak dust accumulation rates here occurred during the middle MIS 5 and MIS 4/early MIS 3. These are partially comparable with records from neighboring regions, but not in phase with global ice volume records. This discrepancy may be related to a distinct regional environmental response to larger-scale climatic drivers and local topographic influences on dust deposition patterns. Our findings confirm the potential of the LPS Remizovka to provide high-resolution paleoclimate data for the Late Pleistocene. The three-dimensional stratigraphic reconstruction reinforces the caution required to correctly interpret loess formation processes prior to their interpretation as paleoclimate archives, and provides guidelines for a more suitable approach.

Paleosols occur in the Driftless Area of southwestern Wisconsin because this area escaped direct Pleistocene glaciation, allowing long-term loess and colluvium accumulation in selected settings. The most complete known depositional sequence at Oil City, Wisconsin, contains eight lithologic units with five paleosols, all with normal remanent magnetism (i.e., <780 ka). Previous work characterized the stratigraphy, pedology, micromorphology, and clay mineralogy of the section. We investigate chemical weathering of the 8–63 µm silt fraction using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and elemental geochemistry by portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF). Elemental ratios TiO2/CaO, Zr/Sr, and Rb/Sr generally align with the pedological evidence of weathering. Mineral ratios plagioclase/quartz and K-feldspar/quartz display greater scatter and less certainty in interpretation. The paleosols with Bt horizons have ratios indicating greater weathering than the modern soil. The most weathered paleosol is formed in the unnamed fourth loess unit stratigraphically below the Loveland Member. The stratigraphic position and higher degree of weathering support correlation of the fourth loess with the Yarmouth Geosol and Crowley’s Ridge Silt of the Middle Mississippi valley. Geochemical indices by pXRF are more consistent with established lithologic breaks than mineralogy by XRD. Our results support the use of pXRF for stratigraphic and weathering studies of Quaternary sediments.

We examined the top 135 m, that is, the entire Pleistocene, of the classic Luochuan section on the Chinese Loess Plateau with a diffuse reflectance spectrophotometer from the near ultraviolet, through the visible, and into the near infrared. From the reflectance data we calculated sample brightness which, with some caveats, is a reasonable proxy for magnetic susceptibility. Mineralogic changes were identified by factor analyzing the first derivative of the percent reflectance data and examining samples with high factor scores. Two factors which explain about 96% of the cumulative variance are distinguished by the relative proportion of hematite and goethite, the minerals that are responsible for the color changes in the loess sequence. Both hematite and goethite are present in both loess and paleosol but goethite dominates in loess whereas hematite dominates in paleosol. The goethite factor exhibits an inverse correlation with magnetic susceptibility; the hematite factor exhibits a weak positive correlation with susceptibility. Paleoclimatic interpretations are drawn from comparison of susceptibility to the concentration of spectrally identified hematite. Based on this comparison, paleosols in the early Pleistocene Wucheng Formation are characterized by conditions that are drier than today, a “dry summer monsoon”, whereas later Pleistocene paleosols are characterized by a “wet summer monsoon”.

Field, micromorphological, pollen, whole soil (XRF), and stable isotope geochemical methods were used to evaluate the latest Pleistocene to Holocene climate record from a floodplain–terrace system in southeastern West Virginia. A late Pleistocene (22,940 ± 150 14C yr B.P.) silt paleosol with low-chroma colors formed from fluviolacustrine sediment deposited during the last glacial maximum (Wisconsinan) and records a cooler full-glacial paleoclimate. Fluvial gravel deposited between the latest Pleistocene and earliest Holocene (prior to 6360 ± 40 14C yr B.P.) was weathered in the middle Holocene under warmer, drier climate conditions, possibly correlated with the Hypsithermal and Altithermal Events of the eastern and southwestern United States, respectively. The glacial to interglacial climate shift is recorded by: (1) changes from a poorly drained landscape with fine-textured soil, characterized by high organic C and redoximorphic features related to Fe removal and concentration, to a well-drained, coarse-textured setting without gley and with significant argillic (Bt) horizon development; (2) changes from a high Zr and Ti silt-dominated parent material to locally derived, coarse fluvial gravels lower in Zr and Ti; (3) a shift from dominantly conifer and sedge pollen in the paleosol to a modern oak/hickory hardwood assemblage; and (4) a shift in δ13C values of soil organic matter from −28‰ to −24‰ PDB, suggesting an ecosystem shift from cooler, C3-dominated flora to one that was mixed C3 and C4, but still predominantly composed of C3 plants. A root-restrictive placic horizon developed between the late Pleistocene silt paleosol and the overlying fluvial gravel because of the high permeability contrast between the two textures of soil materials. This layer formed a barrier that effectively isolated the Pleistocene paleosol from later Holocene pedogenic processes.

Aeolian deposits at four sites in the Gonghe Basin were used to reconstruct the history of aeolian activity over the late Quaternary. These deposits include well-sorted aeolian sand, paleosols and/or loess. Aeolian sand represents dune-field expansion and/or dune buildup, whereas paleosols indicate stabilization of dunes, accompanying ameliorated vegetation cover. On the basis of 25 dates by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), it appears that aeolian activities occurred episodically at 33.5, 20.3, 13.9, 11.8–11.0, 9.4, 7.8, and 5.7 (5.5) ka, which is largely consistent with the recent findings from the adjacent semi-arid areas. Aeolian sand mobility occurring during the early to mid Holocene conflicts with a climatic optimum inferred from lacustrine records in the northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. This inconsistency may be resolved by interpreting aeolian activity as a response to decreased effective moisture due to enhanced evaporation, induced by higher summer insolation at that time, together with local terrain and its effects on moisture. Our results suggest that aeolian sand and paleosol cannot be simply ascribed to regional dry and wet climates, respectively, and they most likely reflect changes in effective moisture.

This paper presents new evidence from the Dhamar highlands, Yemen, of paleohydrologic response to fluctuations in Holocene climate. Stratigraphic, geochemical, and chronological analyses of highland peat and lacustrine deposits contribute to knowledge of the timing of early Holocene moisture changes on the Arabian Peninsula, providing a backdrop to understanding early cultural development in the Arabian highlands. The location of the Dhamar highlands, characterized by intermontane valleys surrounded by the highest mountains on the Arabian Peninsula and adjacent to the Indian Ocean is ideal for examining the influence of the Indian Ocean Monsoon (IOM) on the moisture history of this region. Fluctuations in the lacustrine and paleosol records of the Dhamar highlands reflect both local changes in paleohydrology and regional influences on the Holocene paleoclimatic conditions in southwest Arabia. In addition, a peat deposit with a radiocarbon age of 10,253 ± 10,560 cal yr BP documents some of the earliest Holocene high moisture conditions on the Arabian Peninsula.

Loess accumulation and paleosol formation are important Quaternary geoarchives in northern Iran. Two loess-paleosol sequences at Mobarakabad and Aghband were examined using soil morphology and micromorphology, mineralogy, magnetic susceptibility (MS), free Fe oxides and calcium carbonate equivalent. The loess-paleosol sequences provide a record of changes in paleo-rainfall in the northern Iran. Micromorphological and MS differences between the loess and paleosols in the sections reflect changes in climate. The different behaviors of magnetic susceptibility between Aghband and Mobar-akabad loess are mainly produced by their different pedogenic environments, topography and climatic conditions. As a result, the MS at the Mobarakabad section is much higher than at Aghband. Paleoeco-logical reconstructions coupled with magnetic depletion in paleosols at Mobarakabad suggest a wetter climate dominating during the formation of the paleosols.

Slope deposits in semiarid regions are known to be very sensitive environments, especially those that occurred during the minor fluctuations of the late Holocene. In this paper we analyse Holocene colluvium genesis, composition, and paleoenvironmental meaning through the study of slope deposits in NE Spain. Two cumulative slope stages are described during this period. In the study area, both slope accumulations are superimposed and this has enabled an excellent preservation of the aggregative sequence and the paleosols corresponding to stabilisation stages. 14C and TL dating, as well as archaeological remains, provide considerable chronological precision for this sequence. The origin of the accumulation of the lower unit is placed around 4295–4083 cal yr BP/2346–2134 cal yr BC (late Chalcolithic) and it developed until the Iron Age in a cooler and wetter climate (Cold Iron Age). Under favourable conditions, a soil A-horizon was formed on top of this unit. A new slope accumulation was formed during the Little Ice Age. Within the slope two morphogenetic periods ending with A-horizons are distinguished and related with two main cold–wet climatic events. The study of these slopes provides a great amount of data for the paleoenvironmental and geoarchaeological reconstruction of the late Holocene in NE Spain.

The S5 is the most prominent paleosol unit in the Chinese Loess Plateau, and is distinguished by its great thickness, dark color, and well-developed clay coatings. Previous studies led to the proposal that the S5 developed under much warmer and wetter conditions than at present, implying a “climatic optimum.” However, the S5 is a paleosol complex corresponding in time to a period of weak glacial–interglacial oscillations, as recorded by marine oxygen-isotope stages 15 through 13. To understand the character of this climatic interval, two profiles of the paleosol S5 in the Guanzhong basin were studied, with most of the emphasis being placed on the uppermost and best-developed pedon, S5-I. Grain-size, mineralogical, and chemical data indicate that the major pedogenic processes experienced by the S5-I included complete decalcification and mechanical translocation of fine particles. Chemical alteration of silicate minerals has been weak. Stable carbon-isotope analyses of organic matter showed that C4 plant remains are abundant throughout the profiles. These results suggest that grasslands dominated the paleovegetation during S5-I development. The prominent development of the S5 paleosol complex may reflect a prolonged period of pedogenesis. In contrast to previous reports, paleoclimatic conditions perhaps even drier than at present are implied by the data for the S5 profiles. The relative strength of the glacial–interglacial oscillation in this region (related to the East Asian monsoon) was similar to that indicated for global climate during S5 time.