An improved comparison of Chinese loess with deep-sea δ18O record over the interval 1.6-2.6 Ma -: art. no. L13210

Based on a refined orbital timescale for the lower portion of Pleistocene loess-paleosol sequence at Lingtai section, we present an improved comparison of Chinese loess with deep-sea delta(18)O record over the interval 1.6-2.6 Ma. Unlike previous land-ocean comparison, our result suggests that each paleosol unit from S-25 to S-32 is approximately including two interglacial oxygen isotope stages. The rationality of our revised comparison is supported by the well-constrained ages of geomagnetic reversal boundaries in Chinese loess, and the almost cycle-to-cycle correlation between the grain size and deep-sea delta(18)O record. Spectral analyses demonstrate that variations of the magnetic susceptibility and grain size in the interval 1.6-2.6 Ma were dominated by a prominent 410-ka periodicity, implying a possible response of the East Asian monsoon evolution to orbital eccentricity forcing.