Chronological Link Between the Abrupt Change of the Loess Grain Size Sequence and the Formation of River Terraces on the Eastern Margin of the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau Since the Late Early‐Pleistocene

Abstract

Abstract:Based on the study of magnetostratigraphy, magnetic susceptibility and grain size of Garzê A section on the southeastern margin of the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau since the late early‐Pleistocene, the basal age of Garzê loess is located at ∼1.16 MaBP and a series of abrupt paleoclimatic changes is detected. The times of abrupt changes are of distinct series features, and the interval between each two adjacent abrupt changes is ∼50 kyr or ∼100 kyr. The most significant abrupt changes occur at around 1.06, 0.85, 0.6, 0.46, 0.39 and 0.14 MaBP. There is a chronological link between the abrupt changes of paleoclimate and the formation of river terraces and it is almost simultaneous with a strengthening trend of neotectonic activities. Therefore, maybe the climatic transition controll the timing of terrace formation, and the tectonic uplift originate potential energy and has a direct effect on channel incision, both the climatic transition and the tectonic uplift are important. Terraces are the products of the interaction of instable climatic variations and tectonic uplift. Like the loess‐paleosol sequences, river terrace sequences are also controlled by the climate‐tectonic coupling system and are ruled by climate‐tectonic gyration with a ∼100 kyr paracycle, which may be the short eccentricity period of the earth.