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对红白山剖面的粒度分析表明,塔里木盆地腹地晚新生代沉积物的粒度曲线中普遍存在一个超细粒组分。其众数粒径分布比较稳定,平均为0.87 μm,含量变化介于0.3%~10%,在不同成因的沉积物中和在剖面上都具有明显的变化规律。对同一岩性段而言,超细粒组分含量在风成砂中最低,在黄土中较低,在河流相沉积中较高,在湖相泥岩中最高。尽管受岩性变化的影响比较显著,但不同成因沉积物的超细粒组分含量在剖面上的变化基本一致,暗示了其长周期变化受同一驱动因子控制。化学风化和/或成壤作用强度可能起着关键作用。红白山剖面超细粒组分含量在2.8 Ma的快速降低指示了化学风化和/或成壤作用强度的显著减弱,进而反映了塔里木盆地腹地干旱化的显著加强。

The expansion of inland Asia deserts has considerably influenced the environmental, social and economic activities in Asia. Aridification of inland Asia, especially timing of the initiation of Asian desertification, is a contentious topic in paleoclimatology. Late Cenozoic eolian loess-red clay sequences on the Chinese Loess Plateau, which possess abundant paleoclimatic and paleo-environmental information, can be regarded as an indicator of inland Asia desertification. Here we present a detailed magnetostratigraphic investigation of a new red clay sequence about 654 m in Zhuanglang located at the western Chinese Loess Plateau. Sedimentological, geochemical, mineralogical, and quartz morphological lines of evidence show that the red clay is of eolian origin. Magnetostratigraphic correlations indicate that this core sequence spans from 25.6 to 4.8 Ma, and typical eolian red clay appears as early as 25 Ma. This extends the lower limit of the red clay on the Chinese Loess Plateau from the previously thought early Miocene back into the late Oligocene. This new red clay record further implies that the inland Asia desertification was initiated at least by the late Oligocene. This sequence provides a unique high-resolution geological record for understanding the inland Asia desertification process since the late Oligocene.

The North China and the neighbouring Mongolia in Asian Interior is characterized by extremely dry climate, resulted in one of the world＇s major dust emission centres. Deciphering the source region of Asian dust is critical for revealing the mechanism of the dust production, interpreting the paleo-environrnental records of eolian deposits, predicting the overall environmental effects of dust, and setting the strategies for the control of contemporary dust storms. This paper summarizes the geochemical methods applied to the source tracing of Asian dust. Nd-Sr isotopes were the most extensively studied source tracer of Asian dust and have been successfully applied in many cases. Geochemistry of detrital monomineral shows great theoretical advantages in source tracing and deserves further studies. The short-range transportation of Chinese loess with direction similar to that of the prevailing near surface wind is revealed. Source tracing also shows that the Asian dust has two ultimate material sources from the northern margin of the Tibetan Plateau and the Central Asian Orogen, which confirms the importance of mountain processes in the production of silt eolian particles. Based on the recent progresses on the source tracing of Asian dust, discussions are expanded on the natural background of Asian dust storms and potential anthropogenic influence, the materials evolution of the source regions of Asian dust and its relationships with climate changes and Tibetan uplift, and the role of Tibetan uplift in the Asian dust system.

The Neogene sediments of Gansu Group from northwestern China contain eolian and fluvial deposits. The origins of these sediments are very important for exploring the onset of Asian inland aridification, the pattern of paleo-atmospheric circulation, and the regional tectonics and geomorphic evolution during the Miocene. Here we present detrital-zircon age spectra of typical eolian and fluvial deposits from highlands and subsidence basin, and compare them with those of surrounding eroded mountain（such as the West Qinling Mountains and Liupan Mountains） materials and Quaternary loess derived from the Asian inlands. The results reveal that（1） the detrital-zircon age spectrum of the Miocene eolian sample is remarkably different from the eroded materials of the West Qinling Mountains and the Miocene fluvial deposits from Tianshui region, but very similar to the Quaternary loess deposits. This indicates that the provenance of Miocene eolian sediments is similar with the Quaternary loess, and thus further confirms the previous conclusions that the distribution of Asian arid lands and the pattern of atmospheric circulation during the Miocene are broadly similar with the Quaternary.（2） The detrital-zircon age spectrum of the fluvial deposits（with age about 11.5 Ma） from Tianshui region is different from the eroded materials of West Qinling Mountains, but similar with that of the Liupan Mountains to the east, which may suggest that the Liupan Mountains have already been exhumed by 11.5 Ma.