Holocene palaeoflood events recorded by slackwater deposits along the lower Jinghe River valley, middle Yellow River basin, China

Abstract

Palaeoflood slackwater deposits (SWDs), are the natural record of overbank flooding and are often found within aeolian loess‐soil profiles along the river valleys of the middle Yellow River basin. These pedo‐stratigraphic sequences are studied using a multi‐disciplinarily approach to reconstruct Holocene hydro‐climatic variations. Our field investigations along the lower Jinghe River valley have identified palaeoflood SWDs at several sites along the riverbanks based on sedimentological criteria. Analytical results, including magnetic susceptibility, particle‐size distribution and concentrations of chemical elements, indicate that these well‐sorted palaeoflood SWD beds were deposited from the suspended sediment load in floodwaters. We identify two episodes of extraordinary palaeoflood events along the Jinghe River valley. These hydro‐climatic events were dated to 4200–4000 and 3200–2800 a BP, by using the optically stimulated luminescence method in combination with archaeological dating of retrieved anthropogenic remains, and with pedo‐stratigraphic correlations with the previously studied Holocene pedo‐stratigraphy in the Jinghe River drainage basin. The flooding events are therefore considered to be a regional expression of known climatic events in the northern hemisphere and demonstrate Holocene climate was far from stable. This study provides important data in understanding the interactions between regional hydro‐climatic systems and global change in semi‐arid and sub‐humid regions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Late Pleistocene and Holocene palaeoflood events recorded by slackwater deposits in the upper Hanjiang River valley, China

“…The 3200-2800 a BP floods on the Hanjiang River were not unique events. For instance, extraordinary floods of a similar period were also documented by flood SWDs in the middle reaches of the Yellow River (Huang et al, 2012c) and its tributaries, such as the Weihe River (Huang et al, 2012b;Wan et al, 2010;Zhao et al, 2012), Sushuihe River (Huang et al, 2007), Qishuihe River , Jinghe River (Huang et al, 2012a;Zhang et al, 2012) and Beiluohe River (Wang et al, 2011). These palaeoflood SWDs were found at the boundary between the mid-Holocene Luvisol (S 0 ) and the late Holocene loess (L 0 ), without exception.…”

“…marking the demise of the mighty Shang dynasty (1600-1046) with a variety of severe natural disasters, famine, plague, and social upheavals in relation to climatic aridity (Huang et al, 2003). This pedo-stratigraphic demarcation has therefore often been used as an indicator of an abrupt shift of the monsoonal climate, from the mid-Holocene Climatic Optimum to the dry conditions of the late Holocene (Peng et al, 2005;Huang et al, 2003, Huang et al, 2009, Huang et al, 2012a. A variety of palaeoclimate archives of Holocene climatic change in different regions, such as the oxygen isotope sequence from Dongge Cave in southern China , chemical signals and sodium (Na + ) ion proxy in the GISP2 ice-cores from Greenland ice cap (O'Brien et al, 1995;Mayewski et al, 1997;Meeker and Mayewski, 2002), and ice rafting events resulting from climatic cooling in North Atlantic deep-sea cores (Bond et al, 2001), have defined the prominent 3200-2800 a BP event as an abrupt or rapid climatic event.…”

OSL dating of the massive landslide-damming event in the Jishixia Gorge, on the upper Yellow River, NE Tibetan Plateau

“…Geochemical elements are available proxies for studying the source of sediments and sedimentary environment (Huang et al, 2012). Concentration of geochemical elements of the bottom and the top part of the dammed lake deposits at the Yisiri site in the Jishixia Gorge on the upper Yellow River is shown in Table 4.…”

“…Frequent natural hazards cause huge damage to human life and society over the mountainous regions along the eastern rim of the Tibetan Plateau. In recent years, prehistoric catastrophes, their origin, and their impacts on human societies have gained wide attention over the world (Huang et al, 2010(Huang et al, , 2011(Huang et al, , 2012(Huang et al, , 2013Stanley et al, 2003;Staubwasser et al, 2003;Weiss et al, 1993).…”

“…Indeed, to date, no palaeoflood slackwater deposits of the Yellow River are found along the lower Jishixia Gorge and the Guanting Basin, based on a variety of sedimentological criteria used in palaeoflood hydrology (Baker, 2006;Benito and Thorndycraft, 2005;Huang et al, 2010Huang et al, , 2012Huang et al, , 2013. Obviously, the exact dates of the massive landslides, the damming of the Yellow River, and the disappearing of the dammed lake are very important in resolving the debate to identify the prehistorical catastrophic disasters that overcame the Lajia Ruins.…”