Calcium Nodules as a Proxy for Quaternary Paleoclimate Change on China's Loess Plateau
Different proxies have been used to investigate Quaternary paleoclimate change. Here, we used weathering of calcium nodules in paleosols on China's Loess Plateau as a proxy for Quaternary paleoclimate changes to provide an alternative indicator of these changes. Paleosol and carbonate nodules w...
Saved in:
Published in | PloS one Vol. 10; no. 12; p. e0143928 |
---|---|
Main Authors | , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
Public Library of Science
03.12.2015
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
Cover
Loading…
Summary: | Different proxies have been used to investigate Quaternary paleoclimate change. Here, we used weathering of calcium nodules in paleosols on China's Loess Plateau as a proxy for Quaternary paleoclimate changes to provide an alternative indicator of these changes. Paleosol and carbonate nodules were collected from Luochuan and Lantian counties in Shaanxi Province, China. We found that this approach allowed quantitative reconstruction of temperature, rainfall, soil mineral composition, and the effects of weathering and leaching. The changes in carbonate content in the loess and paleosol sequences were controlled by alternating dry and wet climatic conditions. Nodule formation conditions were directly affected by the leaching and migration of elements. The loess and paleosol sequences developed calcium nodules, and their formation was closely related to the rainfall and leaching characteristics of the paleoclimate. The paleoclimate and soil minerals affected the vegetation types and directly influenced changes in the soil. During formation of the calcium nodules, the surface vegetation evolved slowly, and the number of species and quantity of vegetation both decreased. |
---|---|
Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Conceived and designed the experiments: WH HH. Performed the experiments: WH. Analyzed the data: WH HH MZ. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: WH HH. Wrote the paper: HH. WH HH MZ. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. |
ISSN: | 1932-6203 1932-6203 |
DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0143928 |