A grain-size record from Beijing region in Northern China: Late Quaternary paleoclimate oscillation in response to global change

Abstract

Numerous samples taken from one core at the Beijing plain were utilized to characterize the paleoclimatic configuration of the study area and its possible relation to global control since the last interglaciation. We presented here a detailed grain-size record for the full length of Late Pleistocene, along with the optical simulated luminescence (OSL) dating. Our findings revealed that Late Pleistocene of the study area started approximately at 110 ka B.P. represented by the thick sediments of 31 m in Changping depression. Four sedimentary cycles were outlined in the core during Late Pleistocene, corresponding to marine isotope stage (MIS) 5 to 2. Controlled by regional geology and global climatic setting, eight paleoclimatic periods were identified simultaneously in the study area on the time scale of 10⁴ year, with the warm and moist climate being found at 110-96, 92-76, 67-56, and 28-18 ka B.P.. The climatic instabilities on a millennial scale in Late Pleistocene were characterized largely by the occurrence of 6 strong Heinrich events shown by comparatively coarse groups. These variations correlate well with those documented in the GRIP Greenland and in the Northern Atlantic Ocean, though more complex features may exist on the long time scale.

Keywords

paleoclimatic variations / 10³-10⁴ year scale oscillations / grain-size analysis / the Beijing plain

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Acknowledgements

We are indebted to Mr. Song B and Miss Zhao S J for their help in sampling fieldwork. We thank Prof. Xie S C for kindly improving the earlier version of this manuscript. This study was supported by the Opening Program of State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences, China (No. GPMR0605).

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2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg