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The magnetic susceptibility (MS) of Chinese loess deposits is extensively used to reconstruct climate changes from centennial to earth orbital time scales. The approach assumes that the MS is sensitive to the variations of the Asian Summer Monsoon (ASM), and thus that changes in MS are synchronous across the Chinese Loess Plateau. However, this inference has not been fully confirmed due to the limitations of both chronological control of Chinese loess sequences and the climatic proxies of the ASM. Here, we present the results of radiocarbon dating of the shifts in the oxygen isotopic composition of fossil land snail shells (δ 18 O s ) and in MS during the Pleistocene/Holocene transition at various sites in Chinese Loess Plateau. The results show that the age of shift in MS at Pleistocene/Holocene transition at Mangshan, Heshui, and Huanxian sections is 10.43 ka, 8.55 ka, and 7.13 ka BP, respectively. Thus, the shift is time-transgressive with age decreasing from southeast to northwest across the plateau. However, the δ 18 O s record, which is directly related to the precipitation delivered by the ASM, is not significantly time-transgressive, indicating that the ASM strengthened almost simultaneously across the plateau. We suggest that the time-transgressive nature of the shifts in MS may result from the low amplitude of the ASM strengthening during the Pleistocene/Holocene transition. Overall, our results demonstrate a regional difference in the insensitivity of MS to low amplitude climatic changes, and they challenge the previously-held assumption that the ages of climatic boundary based on MS stratigraphy are time-equivalent in Chinese loess.

International audience; Abstract. Chinese loess sequences are interpreted as a reliable record of the past variation of the East Asian monsoon regime through the alternation of loess and paleosols units, dominated by the winter and summer monsoon, respectively. Different proxies have been used to describe this system, mostly geophysical, geochemical or sedimentological. Terrestrial mollusks are also a reliable proxy of past environmental conditions and are often preserved in large numbers in loess deposits. The analysis of the mollusk remains in the Luochuan sequence, comprising L5 loess to S0 soil, i.e. the last 500 ka, shows that for almost all identified species, the abundance is higher at the base of the interval (L5 to L4) than in the younger deposits. Using the present ecological requirements of the identified mollusk species in the Luochuan sequence allows the definition of two main mollusk groups varying during the last 500 kyr. The cold-aridiphilous individuals indicate the so-called Asian winter monsoon regime and predominantly occur during glacials, when dust is deposited. The thermal-humidiphilous mollusks are prevalent during interglacial or interstadial conditions of the Asian summer monsoon, when soil formation takes place. In the sequence, three events with exceptionally high abundance of the Asian summer monsoon indicators are recorded during the L5, L4 and L2 glacial intervals, i.e., at about 470, 360 and 170 kyr, respectively. The L5 and L4 events appear to be the strongest (high counts). Similar variations have also been identified in the Xifeng sequence, distant enough from Luochuan, but also in Lake Baikal further North, to suggest that this phenomenon is regional rather than local. The indicators of the summer monsoon within the glacial intervals imply a strengthened East-Asian monsoon interpreted as corresponding to marine isotope stages 12, 10 and 6, respectively. The L5 and L2 summer monsoons are coeval with Mediterranean sapropels S12 and S6, which characterize a strong African summer monsoon with relatively low surface water salinity in the Indian Ocean. Changes in the precipitation regime could correspond to a response to a particular astronomical configuration (low obliquity, low precession, summer solstice at perihelion) leading to an increased summer insolation gradient between the tropics and the high latitudes and resulting in enhanced atmospheric water transport from the tropics to the African and Asian continents. However, other climate drivers such as reorganization of marine and atmospheric circulations, tectonic, and the extent of the Northern Hemisphere ice sheet are also discussed.

The deteriorated radiation effects of very deep-sub-micron (VDSM) MOS transistors with multi-finger are experimentally investigated for the first time. The results show that due to the interaction between reverse narrow channel effect and radiation induced edge effect, multi-finger transistors are more sensitive to radiation in comparison with standard MOSFETs. Larger threshold-voltage shift and higher leakage current are observed. The mechanisms responsible for the effects are briefly discussed. The results demonstrate that special radiation hardening technology should be adopted for multi-finger transistors operating in the radiation environment.

Paired radiocarbon and stable carbon analyses have been carried out on aragonite shells and organic soft bodies of snails from the Chinese Loess Plateau in order to explore the possibility of using these kinds of samples as environmental and chronological indicators. Results show that the soft bodies exhibit 14C concentrations similar to those of plant leaves, indicating that carbon in the soft bodies is fixed from organic diets. The aragonite shells are depleted in 14C compared to the soft bodies due to ingestion of 14C-depleted carbonate. This depletion shows a consistent pattern across the Chinese Loess Plateau, implying a good potential for the snail shells to be applicable for 14C dating with a simple correction. The δ13C values measured for aragonite shells display a linear relationship with those obtained for the soft bodies with a constant offset. In addition, the carbon derived from organic diets accounts for more than 70% of the total shell carbon. This fact suggests that stable carbon isotope composition of aragonite shells mainly reflects that of organic diet, and could be used as a reliable indicator of paleodiet in the Chinese Loess Plateau.

article i nfo More and more evidence indicates that the onset of the East Asian (EA) monsoon can be traced back to the Oligocene-Miocene boundary (at about 23 Ma). However, the process of its evolution is still less well-known until now. Here we investigate its late Neogene evolution by analyzing a terrestrial mollusk sequence, from the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP), covering the period between 7.1 and 3.5 Ma. Considering the modern ecological requirements of these organisms, we were able to define two groups of cold-aridiphilous (CA) and thermo-humidiphilous (TH) species, representing the EA winter and summer monsoon variations, respectively, as previously defined in the Quaternary glacial-interglacial cycles. Variations in these two groups indicate two different monsoon dominated periods during 7.1-3.5 Ma. First, between 7.1 and 5.5 Ma, the EA winter monsoon, with a 100-kyr periodicity, was dominant. Second, between 5.1 and 4 Ma, the EA summer monsoon dominated, with a 41-kyr periodicity. Furthermore, our mollusk record yields valuable evidence for a late Miocene-Pliocene transition of about 400 kyr from winter monsoon dominated towards summer monsoon dominated, associated with a periodicity transition from weak 100 kyr to 41 kyr. The strengthened winter monsoon interval, with a 100-kyr periodicity, is coeval with orbital-scale global ice- volume changes, in conjunction with the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau which probably reinforced the winter monsoon sub-regime. Conversely, closures of the Panama and Indonesian seaways, associated with changes in obliquity between 5.1 and 4 Ma, are probably major forcing factors for the observed dominant summer monsoon with 41-kyr frequency, favoring heat and moisture transports between low and high latitudes to allow TH mollusks to grow and develop in the CLP.

InnorthernChina, the Late Miocene–Pliocene redclay in the easternLoess Plateau fills a gapofclimate records between the wellknown loess-soil sequences of the last 2.6 Ma and the Miocene loess-soil sequences from the western Loess Plateau. Previous studies indicate that the red clay is also of wind-blown origin, covering the period from ∼7– 8t o∼2.6 Ma. The red clay therefore provides a good archive to reconstruct paleoecological succession and paleoclimate change. In this study, a palynological investigation was conducted on the late Miocene–Pliocene red clay sequence at Xifeng, central Loess Plateau, which provides new insights into the nature of the evolution of vegetation and climate change from ∼6.2 to ∼2.4 Ma. Our results show that during this period the central Loess Plateau region was covered mainly by a steppe vegetation, indicating long lasting dry climatic condition. Three vegetational zones were recognized during this period. Zone A (∼6.2 to ∼5.8 Ma) is characterized by a steppe ecosystem; Zone B (∼5.8 to ∼4.2 Ma) is characterized by a significant increase of temperate forest plants, indicating a relatively humid regional climate; Zone C (∼4.2 to ∼2.4 Ma) indicates a typical steppe ecosystem. The vegetation shift at about 4.5–3.7 Ma, when the temperate forest plants decrease, the vegetation gradually changed to typical grassland and even to desert steppe. This is interpreted to represent a drying event. The uplift of the Tibetan Plateau at about 4.5 Ma that resulted in the intensification of the monsoon reversal is thought to have playedanimportantroleinthissignificantecological change.High-latitude coolingmayhavepartiallycontributedtotheclimateshift during ∼4.5 to ∼3.7 Ma in the Loess Plateau region, and most likely was the driving force for the ecological shift at about 3.7 Ma.

A new molluscan fossil record from the late Miocene–Pliocene Xifeng Red Clay sequence in the central Loess Plateau, northern China, reveals the process of ecological environmental changes during ∼ 6.2–2.4 Ma. Three marked ecological shifts in mollusk assemblages occurred at about 5.4, 4.5, and 3.4 Ma, which reflect changes in the East Asian monsoon circulation. A predominantly cold-aridiphilous group reveals an extremely cold dry climate due to strengthened East Asian winter monsoon during ∼ 6.2–5.4 Ma. A predominantly thermo-humidiphilous group from ∼ 5.4–4.5 Ma indicates a strengthening of the East Asia summer monsoon circulation. The marked occurrence of meso-xerophilous taxa during ∼ 4.5–3.4 Ma implies mild climatic conditions. From 3.4 Ma, the cold-aridiphilious species again became dominant in the fossil assemblages, indicating that the winter monsoon was gradually intensifying towards the Quaternary glaciations. Climate changes in this region were characterized by stepwise cooling from 5.4 to 2.4 Ma with a 1 Ma rhythmicity. The cooling trend is in good agreement with the general global cooling trend during this period, as documented by marine δ18O records. The formation and development of the Northern Hemisphere ice sheets during the late Pliocene accelerated the climate deterioration towards the Quaternary glaciations. The history of environmental changes revealed by the Red Clay molluscan fossils is coupled in phase with the process of Tibetan Plateau uplift, which may be the major cause and forcing mechanism of late Miocene–Pliocene environmental changes in the Loess Plateau.

The origin and sedimentary environment of the Late Tertiary (Neogene) Red Clay Formation in northern China had long been controversial. A new mollusk record from the Xifeng red clay (red-earth) sequence in the central Loess Plateau provides the biological evidence for addressing questions of its origin and environmental implication. The study of composition and preservation condition of seventy mollusk fossil assemblages reveals the initial ecological condition of the red clay formation, avoiding the effect of post-deposited alteration. The result shows that all of identifiable mollusk species are composed of terrestrial taxa, most of them are the common species found in the overlying Quaternary loess-paleosol sequence. Most of fossil individuals preserved in the red clay strata are in living conditions based on the investigation of fieldwork, indicating the original population. Thus, the mollusk fossil assemblages can be used as an indicator of primary environment of the red clay formation. The mollusk record from the Xifeng red clay sequence supports the view that the red clay is an aeolian origin, similar to the overlying Quaternary loess deposits. Our data also reveal the history of environmental changes at Xifeng from 6.2–2.4 Ma, which is coupled in phase with the formation and development of the Arctic ice sheets and the process of the Tibetan Plateau uplift. Both may be the major cause and forcing mechanisms of the late Tertiary environmental changes in the Loess Plateau.

International audience; The Neogene eolian deposits in the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) are one of the most useful continental deposits for understanding climatic changes. To decipher Late Neogene paleoclimatic changes in the CLP, we present a terrestrial mollusk record spanning the time interval between 7.1 and 3.5 Ma from the western CLP. The results indicate four stages of paleoclimatic evolution: From 7.1 to 6.2 Ma, cold and dry climatic conditions prevailed as evidenced by high values of the total number of cold-aridiphilous (CA) mollusk species and by low values of all of the thermo-humidiphilous (TH) mollusk indices. From 6.2 to 5.4 Ma, the climate remained cold and dry but was not quite as dry as during the preceding phase, as indicated by the dominance of CA mollusks and more TH species and individuals. From 5.4 to 4.4 Ma, a warm and moist climate prevailed, as indicated by high values of the TH species and individuals and by the sparsity of CA species and individuals. From 4.4 to 3.5 Ma, all of the CA indices increased significantly and maintained high values; all of the TH indices exhibit high values from 4.4 to 4.0 Ma, an abrupt decrease from 4.0 Ma and a further increase from 3.7 Ma. The CA species of Cathaica pulveraticula , Cathaica schensiensis , and Pupopsis retrodens are only identified in this stage, indicating that the CA species were diversified and that the climate was becoming drier. Moreover, the CA mollusk group exhibits considerable diversity from 7.1 to 5.4 Ma when a cold, dry climate prevailed; whereas the diversity of the TH group was high during the relatively warm, wet interval from 5.4 to 4.4 Ma. This indicates that variations in the diversity of the CA and TH mollusk groups were closely related to climatic changes during the Late Miocene to Pliocene.

In this paper, we have focused our attention on DC characteristics degradation of 0.18 ?m MOSFETs after 10-MeV proton irradiation. It is shown that the threshold voltage shift, the transconductance degradation and the saturation drain current decrease are lager in PMOSFETs, while small effects are exhibited in NMOSFETs. From the analysis, it is concluded that the basic damage mechanism is not ascribed to the gate oxide and the isolation. The origin of the observed changes is due to the damage in spacer oxides of the MOSFETs. The mechanism involved is that the energetic protons incident on the spacer region lose their energy to displace the atoms, give rise to many defects, and create a disordered region (displacement damage region), where many defects and traps can capture positive charges to make the static characteristics degraded. Therefore, it is pointed out that the sidewalls are one of sensitive regions for irradiation hardness.

A radiation-induced leakage current model in deep submicron bulk silicon N-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (NMOSFET) is proposed in this paper for circuit simulations. The model takes into account the impact of the substrate doping concentration, the angle of shallow trench isolation (STI) region, and the junction depth of source/drain, which can predict the off-state leakage current of the NMOSFET with STI region irradiated at different radiation doses. The model is verified by comparing with the experimental results. The model can be easily implemented into the circuit simulator to evaluate the impact of total ionizing dose effect on the performance of circuit.

The dc characteristics degradation of 0.18 μm metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) after 10 MeV proton irradiation is comprehensively investigated in this paper. The measured results show that the off-state drain current is increased in N-channel MOSFETs, which is due to the turn on of the parasitic transistors induced by the shallow trench isolation regions. While in P-channel MOSFETs, the threshold voltage increase (absolute value), the transconductance degradation, and the saturation drain current decrease are observed. From the analysis, it is concluded that the basic damage mechanism is not ascribed to the gate oxide and the isolation region. The origin of the observed changes may be mainly due to the damage in the spacer oxides of the transistors. In order to verify the assumption, the leakage current passing through the spacer between the gate and the drain is measured before and after irradiation with floated source/substrate and grounded drain. We find that the leakage cur...

International audience; Recently, the first late Miocene–Pliocene eolian deposits from the western Chinese Loess Plateau have been reported. These deposits would complement the eolian record between Quaternary loess-paleosol sequences and Miocene loess sequences, if their wind-blown origin could be documented. However, although several lines of evidence indicate the eolian origin of this sequence, it is still necessary to address this issue through further efforts. Among these, biological approaches are of particular value. Here we analyze the composition and preservation conditions of mollusk assemblages in the Dongwan section. Our results show that all mollusk fossil individuals are preserved in perfect condition without indicating any reworking. All identifiable mollusk species are terrestrial, and are mostly identical to those identified in the Quaternary loess-paleosol sequences of the Chinese Loess Plateau. Generally, the cold-aridiphilous species are dominant in the loess layers, while thermo-humidiphilous species are mostly encountered in the paleosols. The close similarity of the mollusk record in both the Dongwan late Miocene–Pliocene deposits and the Quaternary loess sequence in the Chinese Loess Plateau supports the supposition that the Dongwan section is a typical loess-paleosol sequence, and is, without any doubt, of wind-blown origin.

Thrombolites are widespread in the Mesoproterozoic Wumishan Formation in the North China Platform. This study shows that they mainly concentrated in subtidal carbonate facies with relatively low hydrodynamic conditions, rather than in intertidal zone as suggested previously. From the deep lower to the shallow upper subtidal facies, the thrombolites show evident changes in morphology from dominantly domal to tabular forms, likely suggestive of environmental controls on their morphogenesis and distribution. As the most important component in thrombolites, mesoclots typically consist of organic-rich micritic nuclei and organic-poor fibrous aragonite rims. Mesoclots may vary considerably in their morphology, but a type of specifically shaped mesoclots tends to concentrate predominantly in a particular group of thrombolites. The proportion of the fibrous aragonite rims in mesoclots decrease as the depositional environments become shallower, likely suggesting that the environmental changes also have controls on the internal fabrics of thrombolites. Putative filamentous bacterial colonies are well preserved in some aragonite fans in the matrix between mesoclots, invoking rapid precipitation and aragonite-supersaturated conditions in the ambient waters. It seems that a suboxic to anoxic environment, highly alkaline seawater and relatively low hydrodynamic conditions were among the important factors that facilitated the development and preservation of thrombolites in the Mesoproterozoic epeiric sea on the North China Platform.