Distribution, provenance, and onset of the Xiashu Loess in Southeast China with paleoclimatic implications

Loess deposits are important archives of past climate change in subtropical China, where long-term terrestrial records are scarce. However, only a few long-term records with reliable dating were reported in Jiangsu Province, where loess deposits in southeastern China were first discovered and designated as the Xiashu Loess. Moreover, the provenance of the Xiashu Loess is still controversial. This study presents the magnetostratigraphy and detrital zircon U–Pb age results of loess deposits at Zhoujiashan in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. To date, this section (with basal age of approximately 0.88 Ma) may be the oldest loess deposits discovered in southeastern China. Based on the detrital zircon U–Pb ages of the Zhoujiashan section, together with published results of geochemistry, geomorphology, sedimentology, and meteorology, we propose that the Xiashu Loess has two mixed sources. Local materials derived from the Yangtze River Basin (including exposed river/lake beds, floodplains, and mountains) served as a major contributor. The distal eolian dust that originated from the arid areas of North China (including deserts, piedmont alluvial fans, and drylands) played a minor role in the formation process of the Xiashu Loess. The nearly synchronous onset age (approximately 0.88–0.85 Ma) of the Xiashu Loess was attributed to a regional environmental event during the middle Pleistocene transition.