Estimation of dust source of Shimao loess in Loess Plateau-Mu Us junction area based on detrital zircon
AN Yu1, FAN Niannian1, XU Zhiwei2, LIU Xingnian1
1 State Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering,Sichuan University,Chengdu 610064,China; 2 School of Geography and Ocean Science,Nanjing University,Nanjing 210023,China
Abstract：There is still no consensus on the source of dust in the Chinese Loess Plateau,especially the contribution of deserts and rivers. Focusing on the Shimao section of Shenmu city in the eastern Mu Us Desert,this study analyzes the source of aeolian dust deposits and river sediments since the last deglaciation by using detrital zircon age,as well as Inverse Monte Carlo model to quantify the provenance distribution. The results of particle size distribution and Cathodoluminescence images show that Shimao loess is composed of typical aeolian deposits. The peak ages of coarse detrital zircons(>40 μm)in Shimao loess occur at 190~300 Ma,300~600 Ma,1700~1900 Ma and 2300~2600 Ma,demonstrating that the proximal(local bedrock detritus),intermediate(Yellow River sediments)and the distal(Alashan Desert)sources all contribute to the detrital zircon ages;quantitative calculations show that the three source areas contribute 71%,21% and 8% of the aeolian coarse particles,respectively. For the proximal and intermediate sources,the Yellow River and its tributaries eroded the bedrock and transported the deposited floodplain materials,which became the transfer station for dust transportation and provided the main material source for the formation of loess. The results of optically stimulated luminescence dating show that the river sediments and the overlying loess in the Shimao sectoin were formed in the penultimate deglaciation and the last deglaciation respectively. This in turn suggests that the sedimentary discontinuity between the river sediments and the overlying loess layer may indicate the erosion events from the last glacial to deglaciation period,which led to the exposure of river floodplain materials and the formation of potential local dust sources. These results indicate that river systems including the Yellow River and its tributaries have an important provenance contributions to dust loess.
AN Yu,FAN Niannian,XU Zhiwei et al. Estimation of dust source of Shimao loess in Loess Plateau-Mu Us junction area based on detrital zircon[J]. JOPC, 2022, 24(4): 802-812.
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