Initial incision of the Jinshan Gorge of the Yellow River, China, constrained by terrestrial in situ cosmogenic nuclides chronology

Disentangling Combined Effects of Sediment Sorting, Provenance, and Chemical Weathering From a Pliocene‐Pleistocene Sedimentary Core (CSDP‐1) in the South Yellow Sea

“…Although the oldest terrace found in the Jinshaan Gorge is 1.2 Ma old, which is younger than the terraces mentioned above, it was estimated that the Jinshaan Gorge was entrenched or drained by the Yellow River prior to 1.2 Ma, probably in the period of 3.7 to 1.2 Ma, when the planation surface level on the Ordos Block began to be dissected due to subsidence and extensional tectonics in the Weihe Basin (Hu et al., 2016). According to the results of burial ages determined by cosmogenic nuclides, the onset of incision of the Jinshaan Gorge has been refined to 1.7–2.5 Ma in the Early Pleistocene (Li et al., 2020).…”

Quaternary evolution of the Jinshan Gorge and Yellow River: Insight from numerical modelling and terrace correlation

“…The gorge had been the site of ancient lakes, as evidenced by the presence of paleolakes (Qiu et al, 2014; Wang et al, 1985). The basin fill of these paleolakes contains a thin lake sediment sequence and gravel layer reworked by the hyper‐concentrated flows during basin connection (Figure S3) (Capuzzo & Wetzel, 2004; Li, Ran, & Guo, 2005; Liu, Rui, & Li, 2022; Li et al, 2020, 2022). The Yellow River channels in the Jinshan Gorge region developed on the weakly imbricated gravel and outcrop bedrock, influenced by the differential movement of the Hancheng fault (Qiu et al, 2014).…”

“…The shear‐extensional active Hancheng fault crosses the Yellow River, acting as the boundary between the deep slot bedrock canyon in the Ordos Block (the Jinshan Gorge) and the sedimentary basin (Fenwei Basin) (The Research Group on Active Fault System around Ordos Massif, State Seismological Bureau, 1988; Cao, 1964; Rao, Lin, & Yan, 2015; Shi et al, 2015) (Figure 1b). Subsidence in the Fenwei Basin and activities of the Hancheng fault may cause base‐level fluctuations, rapid incision and knickpoint propagation, resulting in the formation of three to nine terraces along the banks of the river (from upstream to downstream) within the gorge (Hu et al, 2016; Li et al, 2020, 2022; Liu, 2020; Liu, Rui, & Li, 2022). Owning to thick loess accumulation, the stepped terrace landscape is often not readily apparent from the morphology of the region (Zhang et al, 2010, 2011).…”

“…Significantly, the Jinshan Gorge, the longest gorge in the fluvial catchment, was carved by the Yellow River as it cut into the Ordos Blocks in the middle reaches of the river, which is crucial to deciphering the transient evolution of the fluvio‐lacustrine to the present fluvial landscape of the middle stream (Hu et al, 2016; Pan et al, 2011, 2012). The oldest fluvial terraces along the Jinshan Gorge were formed 1.2 Ma ago according to the paleomagnetic dating of terrace deposits (Li et al, 2020, 2022; Liu, 2020; Liu, Rui, & Li, 2022; Pan et al, 2011, 2012). The high‐resolution spatiotemporal variation in uplift and incision rates has also been modelled using a numerical space–time incision function (Zhong et al, 2022).…”

“…The high‐resolution spatiotemporal variation in uplift and incision rates has also been modelled using a numerical space–time incision function (Zhong et al, 2022). While there has been extensive research on knickpoint migration processes and the timing of the initial incision of the Jinshan Gorge of the Yellow River (the Yellow River from Tuoketuo to Hukou), concrete evidence for the causes of the knickpoint propagation and the specific genesis of the terraces remains elusive (Guo et al, 2012; Li et al, 2020, 2022; Liu, Rui, & Li, 2022; Pan et al, 2011, 2012; Zhang et al, 2009, 2010, 2011).…”