Review of recent developments in mineral magnetism of the Chinese loess
Qingsong Liua,
,
, Chenglong
Dengb,
Jose Torrentc
and Rixiang Zhub
aSchool of Ocean and Earth Science,
University of Southampton, National Oceanography Centre, European Way,
Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK
bPaleomagnetism
and Geochronology Laboratory (SKL-LE), Institute of Geology and
Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
cDepartamento
de Ciencias y Recursos Agrícolas y Forestales, Universidad de
Córdoba,
Edificio C4, Campus de Rabanales, 14071 Córdoba, Spain
Received 6 December 2005; revised 26 July 2006; accepted 6
August 2006. Available online 22 November 2006.
Abstract
Mineral magnetism of the
Chinese loess has been investigated for more than 20 years. Although
there is a consensus that the neoformation of fine-grained maghemite
particles in the superparamagnetic (SP) and single-domain (SD) grain
size regions accounts for the magnetic enhancement in the Chinese
paleosols, quantitative retrieval of paleoclimatic signals in terms of
rock magnetic proxies is still a subject of debate. The ambiguities
arise from the inherent complexities of magnetic proxies as well as the
multiple factors that control the pedogenic processes. Therefore, a
better description of the magnetic assemblage (including its
mineralogy, grain size distribution and stoichiometry) of two distinct
origins (pedogenic and eolian) can help us better understand mechanisms
behind variations in magnetic proxies at different timescales, in order
to link them to the paleoclimatic processes. This review focuses on
recent developments in loess magnetism, and carefully evaluates merits
and limitations of rock magnetic proxies. Furthermore, several
currently unsolved problems are addressed.