Variability of the temperature-dependent susceptibility of the Holocene eolian deposits in the Chinese loess plateau: A pedogenesis indicator

We used a partial heating/cooling method (Van Velzen and Dekkers, 1999) for the analysis of representative samples of the Holocene loess of the Chinese loess plateau, in order to investigate magnetic mineralogical changes during thermal treatment. The temperature-dependence of susceptibility (TDS) results show significant alteration of magnetic phases during heating and cooling, and provide further evidence that magnetite and maghemite are the dominant ferrimagnetic minerals in the Holocene eolian deposits of the loess plateau. The TDS measurements suggest that the degree of the thermally-induced alteration is closely related to pedogenesis, which is a function of climate, and thus the alteration itself could be a useful climate indicator. Our TDS results along a NW-SE transect in the loess plateau suggest that stronger pedogenesis results in higher content of maghemite and greater susceptibility decrease during thermal treatment. This behavior seems to indicate that the final product of pedogenic magnetite in Chinese loess and paleosols is maghemite, which plays an important role in the enhancement of the magnetic susceptibility of Chinese eolian deposits. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.