High-resolution multi-proxy climate records from Chinese loess: evidence for rapid climatic changes over the last 75 kyr

Abstract

The loess/paleosol sequence in loess layer L1 (Malan Loess) is investigated in three regions of the Western Chinese Loess Plateau. Nine pedogenic layers are found in L1 and three proxy climate indices, magnetic susceptibility (MS), grain size (GS) and CaCO3 content, are measured at intervals of 0.2 kyr in order to recover records of monsoon climate variations. Time series of MS, GS and CaCO3 content document the high resolution history of summer and winter monsoon climate variations over the last 75 kyr. The records show a high degree of similarity to the warm interstadials recorded in ice cores from Greenland and the Antarctic, and with Heinrich events in the North Atlantic, during the last glacial cycle. Bond cycles are also recorded by the Chinese loess records. Overall, our results indicate that numerous rapid changes in climate occurred in China during the last glacial cycle, but that the range of climate variations was smaller than recorded in Greenland.