Quaternary paleoenvironmental evolution of the Tengger Desert and its implications for the provenance of the loess of the Chinese Loess Plateau

The Sources and Transport Dynamics of Eolian Sediments in the NE Tibetan Plateau Since 6.7 Ma

“…The ε Nd (0) values of the XSZ and YJ red clay sediments are close to those of the Tengger Desert, Tarim Basin, and Qilian Mountains in the NTP. Notably, the prevailing desert environment in the Tarim Basin developed from the Early Pliocene (Liu et al, ; Sun et al, ; Sun & Liu, ), while the Tengger Desert was formed at ~0.9 Ma (Fan et al, ; Li, Sun, et al, ). In addition, the Qilian Mountains in the NTP have experienced substantial uplift since the Late Miocene (Fang, Zhao, et al, ; Fang et al, , ; Hu et al, ; Song et al, ), which has promoted increased rock erosion.…”

“…The increase in the relative detrital contribution from the CAO to the loess‐paleosol sediments may have resulted from an enhanced northwesterly winter monsoon combined with differences in erosional responses in the NTP and CAO to the development of the Quaternary glacial‐interglacial climatic pattern (Chen & Li, ). More importantly, the aridification of interior Asia was intensified substantially during 4.0–2.6 Ma (Lu et al, ; Rea et al, ; Sun, ), and most of the modern desert‐Gobi environment in northern China was formed during the Pleistocene (Fan et al, ; Li, Sun, et al, ; Wang et al, ), which then supplied abundant dust for loess‐paleosol accumulation in the NE TP and CLP.…”

“…Much research attention has been directed to the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP), and comprehensive investigations have been made of the origin of the red clay and the overlying loess‐paleosol sequence (Bird et al, ; Chen & Li, ; Li et al, , ; Nie et al, ; Shang et al, ; Sun, ; Sun, Tada, et al, ) and their paleoclimatic record (An et al, ; Ding et al, , ; Qiang et al, ; Vandenberghe et al, ; Zan, Fang, Li, et al, ; Zan, Fang, Zhang, et al, ; Zhang et al, ). Several primary conclusions have been drawn: (i) The ultimate source materials of these eolian sediments are the northern TP (NTP) and the Central Asian Orogen (CAO), and shifts in these sources were determined by processes of mountain erosion within the two regions, and by desertification processes in the Asian interior (Chen et al, ; Chen & Li, ; Fan et al, ; Li et al, , , ; Nie et al, ). (ii) The winds transporting the red clay were weaker than those associated with the deposition of the loess‐paleosol sequences; in addition, the influence of the paleo‐East Asian Monsoon (EAM) on the CLP from the Miocene to Pliocene was not as strong as that since the Quaternary (An et al, ; Ding et al, ; Li, ; Li et al, ; Li, Fang, et al, ; Qiang et al, ; Vandenberghe et al, ).…”

Sedimentary evidence and luminescence and ESR dating of Early Pleistocene high lake levels of Megalake Tengger, northwestern China

“…TD-Tengger Desert; BJD-Badain Jaran Desert; MU-Mu Us Desert; CLP-Chinese Loess Plateau. (B) Satellite image of the Tengger Desert and its adjacent areas, showing the locations of drill cores WEDP01 and BJ14 from Li et al (2014b) and Fan et al (2018), respectively. (C) Drainage of terminal palaeo-lake Zhuyeze which was fed by the Shiyang River; the palaeo-lake basin is composed of two parts which were separated by NW-SE-extended sand ridges, with its surface at an altitude of 1330 m. Note the location of drill core.…”

“…The ESR age and the magnetostratigraphy in core BJ14 in Fig. 2B are from Fan et al (2018). [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com] closer to the bank and can be used to point to the height of the shoreline.…”