TY - JOUR
T1 - Rock magnetic investigation of loess deposits in the Eastern Qingling Mountains (central China) and its implications for the environment of early humans
AU - Wang, Xiaoyong
AU - Lu, Huayu
AU - Zhang, Weiguo
AU - Hu, Pengxiang
AU - Zhang, Hongyan
AU - Han, Zhiyong
AU - Wang, Shejiang
AU - Li, Baoguo
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Authors 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Royal Astronomical Society.
PY - 2016/11/1
Y1 - 2016/11/1
N2 - The Luonan Basin, located in the transitional zone between temperate and subtropical China, is an important locality for human evolution during the early to middle Pleistocene. The loess deposits in the Luonan Basin contain numerous in situ lithic artefacts; the deposits also constitute suitable material for dating the artefacts and are potentially useful for reconstructing the climatic fluctuations which is important for studying the adaptation and occupation of the area by early humans. We carried out a combined rock magnetic and geochemical investigation of a loess sequence from the Liuwan Palaeolithic site in the Luonan Basin. The results indicate a mixture of magnetic minerals, including magnetite/maghemite and hematite/goethite. Magnetic susceptibility was used as a palaeoclimate proxy on the Chinese Loess Plateau; however, its application to the Luonan Basin may be problematic because the provenance of the loess parent material, as well as the depositional environment, differs from that of the Chinese Loess Plateau. We found that rock magnetic parameters related to the grain size of magnetic minerals, such as SIRM/χ and χARM/SIRM, are better palaeoclimatic indicators than magnetic susceptibility. Overall, the magnetic results, together with the results of bulk grain-size and chemical index of alteration, indicate that the interglacial environment of early humans in Luonan Basin was warmer and more humid than the coeval environment of the Chinese Loess Plateau.
AB - The Luonan Basin, located in the transitional zone between temperate and subtropical China, is an important locality for human evolution during the early to middle Pleistocene. The loess deposits in the Luonan Basin contain numerous in situ lithic artefacts; the deposits also constitute suitable material for dating the artefacts and are potentially useful for reconstructing the climatic fluctuations which is important for studying the adaptation and occupation of the area by early humans. We carried out a combined rock magnetic and geochemical investigation of a loess sequence from the Liuwan Palaeolithic site in the Luonan Basin. The results indicate a mixture of magnetic minerals, including magnetite/maghemite and hematite/goethite. Magnetic susceptibility was used as a palaeoclimate proxy on the Chinese Loess Plateau; however, its application to the Luonan Basin may be problematic because the provenance of the loess parent material, as well as the depositional environment, differs from that of the Chinese Loess Plateau. We found that rock magnetic parameters related to the grain size of magnetic minerals, such as SIRM/χ and χARM/SIRM, are better palaeoclimatic indicators than magnetic susceptibility. Overall, the magnetic results, together with the results of bulk grain-size and chemical index of alteration, indicate that the interglacial environment of early humans in Luonan Basin was warmer and more humid than the coeval environment of the Chinese Loess Plateau.
KW - Asia
KW - Environmental magnetism
KW - Rock and mineral magnetism
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84994748509&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/gji/ggw243
DO - 10.1093/gji/ggw243
M3 - Article
SN - 0956-540X
VL - 207
SP - 889
EP - 900
JO - Geophysical Journal International
JF - Geophysical Journal International
IS - 2
ER -