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| Major elements in the Holocene loess-paleosol sequence in the upper reaches of the Weihe River valley, China |
| WAN Honglian1,2, HUANG Chunchang3*, PANG Jiangli3 |
1 Key Laboratory of Disaster Monitoring and Mechanism Simulation of Shaanxi Province, Baoji University of Arts and Sciences, Baoji 721013, China;
2 Department of Geographical Science and Environmental Engineering, Baoji University of Arts and Sciences, Baoji 721013, China;
3 College of Tourism and Environmental Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710062, China |
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Abstract Palaeohydrological investigations were carried out in the Guchuan Basin in the upper reaches of the Weihe River valley, China. A set of palaeoflood slackwater deposits (SWDs) was found interbedded in the Holocene loess-paleosol sequence at the Guchuanzhen site (GCZ). These palaeoflood SWDs were studied by field observations and laboratory analyses including concentrations of chemical elements and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating. The results showed that the palaeoflood SWDs were the result of the secondary separations of the surface soil and weathered soil layers during the process of water transport and deposition, and without obvious weathering during soil development. These extraordinary flood events were dated back to 3,200−3,000 a B.P. with the OSL method and checked by archaeological dating of the human remains retrieved from the profile. These extraordinary flood events were therefore considered as regional expression of known climatic events and demonstrated the climatic instability in the Holocene. This result is important for understanding the effects of global climate change on the dynamics of river systems.
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Received: 23 March 2015
Published: 01 April 2016
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| Fund: The research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41030637), the Science and Technology Project of Baoji City (14SFGG-2), the Fundamental Research Funds for Key Subject Physical Geography of Baoji University of Arts and Science, Shaanxi Province and the Key Library Program of Education Department of Shaanxi Province (15JS008). |
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