Objective
Quaternary loess sediments blanket large continental areas. According to magneto-stratigraphic dating, they have been deposited during the last 2.5 million years (Ma). Continuous sections occur mainly on the Northern hemisphere in a girdle extending from middle and east Europe to Central and east Asia. They consist stratigraphically of an alternation of loess and palaeosol layers which were formed under arid-cold and humid-warm palaeoclimatic conditions, respectively. The sediment magnetic properties such as low field susceptibility or natural remanent magnetisation and many others are proxy recorders of the long-term palaeoclimatic variations on land.
This project aims mainly at the understanding of the nature and formation of the rock magnetic signature of two loess sections on the Russian plain, i.e. the detrital or pedogenic origin of the ferromagnetic minerals as a function of environmental change. Accurate age dating by correlation of the polarity of the natural remanent magnetisation of the loess with the geomagnetic polarity time scale and of the susceptibility variations with the oxygen isotope time scale is the first goal of the research. The major purpose, however, is the palaeoclimatic and environmental interpretation of the loess magnetism within the sediment columns investigated, i.e. over a time of the last ca. 1 Ma. The magnetic rock properties as climate proxies on the Russian plain will be compared on a continent-wide scale with loess formations in China, Central Asia and middle Europe and palaeoprecipitation (rainfall) during the Quaternary will be reconstructed for the sampling regions.
The palaeomagnetic results will allow accurate age dating of the two loess sections by means of polarity stratigraphy and correlation of susceptibility variations with the oxygen isotope time scale. This will be facilitated by taking into account the geological field observations on the loess formation in the profiles studied. It will allow comparison of the loess and palaeosol layers between the two sections and also with worldwide distributed loess deposits, e.g. in China or Central Asia. The identification of the magnetic minerals will give evidence concerning formation conditions such as detrital or in situ formation, and environment during loess deposition. Quantitative estimates about palaeorainfall changes through time will be developed from differentiating analysis of the susceptibility signal.
If analysis of earlier Russian results is possible in a similar manner, it is planned to start developing palaeoclimate maps for specific time intervals, e.g. the last interglacial.
Significant scientific results which come out from this project will be published in recognised scientific journals.
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Programme(s)
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Coordinator
8093 Zürich
Switzerland
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