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The Neogene sediments of Gansu Group from northwestern China contain eolian and fluvial deposits. The origins of these sediments are very important for exploring the onset of Asian inland aridification, the pattern of paleo-atmospheric circulation, and the regional tectonics and geomorphic evolution during the Miocene. Here we present detrital-zircon age spectra of typical eolian and fluvial deposits from highlands and subsidence basin, and compare them with those of surrounding eroded mountain (such as the West Qinling Mountains and Liupan Mountains) materials and Quaternary loess derived from the Asian inlands. The results reveal that (1) the detrital-zircon age spectrum of the Miocene eolian sample is remarkably different from the eroded materials of the West Qinling Mountains and the Miocene fluvial deposits from Tianshui region, but very similar to the Quaternary loess deposits. This indicates that the provenance of Miocene eolian sediments is similar with the Quaternary loess, and thus further confirms the previous conclusions that the distribution of Asian arid lands and the pattern of atmospheric circulation during the Miocene are broadly similar with the Quaternary. (2) The detrital-zircon age spectrum of the fluvial deposits (with age about 11.5 Ma) from Tianshui region is different from the eroded materials of West Qinling Mountains, but similar with that of the Liupan Mountains to the east, which may suggest that the Liupan Mountains have already been exhumed by 11.5 Ma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]