Southward migration of the monsoonal rainbelt hinders paleosol development and preservation in north-central China dunefield after the Middle-Late Holocene Transition

Peixian Shu, Shugang Kang, Zhengguo Shi, David A. Grimley, Zeke Zhang, Jiaju Zhao, Hong Wang, Weijian Zhou, Zhisheng An

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The Asian summer monsoon (ASM), including the intensity and range limits of it's associated rainfall belt, is relevant to ecosystems, agriculture, natural hazards and water availability for millions of people in this region. However, understanding of the pattern of dunefield changes near the northern limit of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) since Middle to Late Holocene Transition (MLHT, ∼6 to 4 ka) is still lacking. Here, we compile and analyze the sedimentology and chronology of regional dune and lake records in the Hunshandake Sandy Land (HSL). Based on prior work and confirmed by additional OSL and 14C ages, paleosol development intercalated with dune sand is found southeastern and central parts of the HSL after 4 ka. However, based on new chronological data, a paleosol complex is generally absent in the northwestern HSL after 4 ka. Together with independent high-resolution transient model simulations of summer rainfall change, we interpret a shift of the far northwestern HSL dunefield system approximately coincided with the mid-summer limit of the EASM rainbelt that retreated southward after 4 ka. Thus, we hypothesize that the southward migration of the northernmost monsoonal rainbelt after the MLHT was a first-order control on dunefields change over the far northwestern HSL. Coupled with a southward migrating rainbelt, we interpret a decrease in external sand supply (due to covering by clay) and an increase in contemporaneous seasonal eolian deflation caused by the drier hydroclimatic conditions. This climatic-driven dune system shift in the far northwestern HSL is shortly after the more globally recognized 4.2 ka event, which marks the boundary between the Middle Holocene and Late Holocene.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number107919
JournalQuaternary Science Reviews
Volume301
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1 2023

Keywords

  • East asian summer monsoon rainbelt
  • Eolian dune sediments
  • Middle-late Holocene transition
  • Paleosol complex

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Global and Planetary Change
  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
  • Archaeology
  • Archaeology
  • Geology

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