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Paleoclimatic record from the clay mineralogy of Quaternary sediments of drill core DWJ from Jiudong subbasin (western Hexi Corridor), NW China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 September 2019

Dianbao Chen ,
Baotian Pan ,
Jinfeng Ma ,
Xiaofei Hu ,
Haopeng Geng  and
Hongli Pang
Dianbao Chen*
Affiliation:
MOE Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
Baotian Pan
Affiliation:
MOE Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
Jinfeng Ma
Affiliation:
MOE Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
Xiaofei Hu
Affiliation:
MOE Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
Haopeng Geng
Affiliation:
MOE Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
Hongli Pang
Affiliation:
MOE Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
*
*Corresponding author e-mail address: [email protected]
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Abstract

The thick sedimentary deposits of the Jiudong subbasin in the western Hexi Corridor of NW China can potentially provide important records of climate change in arid and semiarid areas subject to the interaction of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) and the westerlies. Here we present the results of a study of the clay mineralogy of the sediments of drill core DWJ from the Jiudong subbasin. The clay minerals consist mainly of illite, followed by chlorite, kaolinite, and smectite. The clay mineral assemblages are used to define four paleoclimatic stages since ~1.8 Ma: (1) During ~1.8–1.2 Ma, the climate was relatively cold and arid; (2) during ~1.2–0.9 Ma, it was relatively warm and wet, with strongly seasonal precipitation; (3) during ~0.9–0.3 Ma, there was a long-term trend of cooling and drying; and (4) during ~0.3–0.1 Ma, the climate was warmer and wetter than during the previous period, with strongly seasonal precipitation. The paleoclimatic record of the Jiudong subbasin since ~1.8 Ma is consistent with records from the Tengger Desert and typical monsoonal areas. This suggests that the EASM penetrated into the central regions of the North Qilian Shan and Zhangye–Jiudong subbasin during ~1.2–0.9 and ~0.3–0.1 Ma.

Keywords

Clay mineralsDrill corePaleoclimatic reconstructionJiudong subbasin
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 93 , January 2020 , pp. 124 - 138
Copyright
Copyright © University of Washington. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2019 

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