Preliminary magnetostratigraphy of a thick eolian red clay-Loess sequence at Lingtai, the Chinese Loess Plateau

Magnetic remanence and bulk susceptibility measurements are reported for a 305-m eolian loess-red clay sequence at Lingtai, the Chinese loess Plateau. Polarity zonation defined by about 680 remanence data yields a basal age of about 7.05 Ma for the section, which represents the oldest wind-blown dust deposited continuously in north-central China during the late Cenozoic. The resultant magnetostratigraphic scheme implies a nearly linear accumulation rate (about 2.98 cm/ka) of atmospheric dust on the Loess Plateau during the period of 7.05 to 2.58 Ma. Comparison of the bulk susceptibility record with the pedogenic characteristics of the red clay observed in the field suggests that magnetic susceptibility in the red clay is not as useful as in the loess-soil sequence to indicate summer monsoon variations.