Geochemical characterization of the loess-paleosol sequence in northeast China

Long-term weathering patterns in northeastern China are not well known due to few well-preserved terrestrial paleo-environmental archives in this area. The Chaoyang section is a typical well-preserved loess-paleosol sequence in northeast China with continuous deposition since 423 ka BP; the deposit thus represents an archive of climate change for this region. The sequence was geochemically characterized by major elemental compositions, elemental ratios, a ternary diagram of Al2O3-(CaO* + Na2O)-K2O, improved quantitative reconstruction and elemental distributions with respect to the average for the upper continental crust (AUCC). Another typical loess-paleosol sequence of Lingtai section from the central Chinese Loess Plateau was used for comparison with the loess-paleosol one. The similar AUCC-normalized major elemental distributions and strong correlation of the major elemental compositions between the loess-paleosol sequences indicate that they may have originated predominantly from a similar loess source. Based on the variability in chemical indices corresponding to soil magnetic susceptibility (SUS) and field observations, the loess-paleosol formation period of 423–77 ka BP was separated into eight sub-periods including four periods with greater chemical weathering intensity (paleosols) and four periods characterized by the relative lesser chemical weathering intensity (loess). Relatively intense desilication and fersiallitization primarily occurred in the loess-paleosol sequence from northeast China with greater losses of SiO2 (3.54% in average) and gains of Fe2O3 (0.77%) and Al2O3 (0.33%). Such processes also were reflected in an increase in the amount of K2O (0.41%). Ca and Na leaching was still predominant in the loess-paleosol sequence from the central Chinese Loess Plateau with greater losses of CaO (28.03%) and Na2O (14.03%). The sequence from northeast China records chemical weathering during 423–77 ka BP, which is comparable to the weathering cycles in the sequence from the central Chinese Loess Plateau.