Origin of the red earth and gravel deposits in Nankou piedmont, northwestern Beijing, China

Abstract

Analytic results of the mechanical and chemical composition, clay minerals, sedimentary structures and microtextures of the red earth and gravel deposits in Nankou piedmont, northwestern Beijing, China, suggest that the deposits have nothing to do with glaciation but are palaeodebris-flow deposits. During the period of their deposition, the climate was humid and hot with plentiful rainfall, and oxidation, physical and chemical weathering were rather intense.