Controlling factors on heavy mineral assemblages in Chinese loess and Red Clay

Heavy-mineral analysis is a sensitive technique in constraining provenance of sandstone, but has rarely been applied to loess. Here we report a heavy-mineral study of selected samples from the Luochuan, Xifeng and Caoxian loess-Red Clay sections on the Chinese Loess Plateau, based on the novel QEMSCAN (Quantitative Evaluation of Minerals by Scanning Electron Microscopy) technique. We found that heavy mineral assemblages of loess deposited through the past 500 kyr are similar and unchanged by post-depositional chemical dissolution. In contrast, in samples deposited from 900 ka to 3 Ma, the relative proportion of stable minerals tends to increase down section. In addition, the Xifeng samples consistently display higher contents of unstable ferromagnesian minerals than the Luochuan samples. Detailed analysis of surface textures displayed by different minerals by optical methods indicates that such a compositional difference can be ascribed to more effective diagenetic dissolution for the Luochuan section, explained by more extensive percolation of interstitial waters in wetter climatic conditions. Interestingly, heavy-mineral assemblages in the underlying upper Miocene Red Clay from Xifeng (deposition age similar to 7 Ma) are similar to those of recent loess deposited since 500 ka. This similarity indicates that climate and/or local preservation conditions hampered dissolution reactions, thus helping to preserve an original provenance signal that remained largely unchanged throughout the considered time period. Our study demonstrates that climatically- and time-controlled diagenesis plays a key role in determining the composition of heavy-mineral assemblages contained in loess deposited several hundreds of thousands years ago. We also show that by using both QEMSCAN and traditional optical techniques on the same samples we can obtain fundamental complementary information for a correct interpretation of the heavy-mineral assemblage.</p

Provenance of the upper Miocene-Pliocene Red Clay deposits of the Chinese loess plateau

A clear understanding of the provenance of late Cenozoic Chinese loess and the underlying Red Clay deposits will shed light on the history and mechanisms of Asian aridification. Although much progress has been made in understanding the source of Quaternary loess on the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP), the provenance of the underlying upper Miocene-Pliocene Red Clay sequence is largely unknown. Here we present the first provenance history of the Red Clay sequence based on zircon U-Pb ages from the central CLP. Visual and statistical analyses of the U-Pb age populations and comparison with results from potential source regions reveals that (1) the lowermost Red Clay of the late Miocene (depositional age of ~8 Ma) is likely sourced from the nearby Liupan Mountains and the Qaidam Basin; (2) the middle Red Clay (5.5-4 Ma) of the early-mid Pliocene is sourced mainly from the Taklamakan desert, transported via lower-level westerly winds; (3) the upper Red Clay of the late Pliocene (~3 Ma) is sourced from mixed areas, although western source materials from middle-northern Tibetan plateau (including Qaidam Desert sediments and materials eroded from the Qilian Mountains) sediments appear to dominate; and (4) the Quaternary loess is also sourced from mixed source regions, albeit with dominant northern CLP proximal desert sediments transported via winter monsoon winds, which in turn may be transported from mountain source regions of the northeastern Tibet and Gobi Altai via major river systems. This long term shift in sources suggests a progressive eastward aridification during the Pliocene in Asia with the specific timing of provenance shifts synchronous with large-scale climatic transitions and Tibetan uplift, demonstrating that Asian desertification is controlled by both factors.</p