New contributions to Chinese Plio-Pleistocene magnetostratigraphy

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Abstract

A new collection of over 500 orientated hand-samples (of which 180 are red clays) from a 195 m loess/red clay section near Xian (109° 12′ E, 34° 12′ N), China, has been dated by magnetic stratigraphy. Biostratigraphic and previous magnetostratigraphic investigations gave a maximum age for the Chinese loess of 2.4 Ma, implying that the underlying Red Clay Formation is Pliocene in age. The present study yields a clearly defined magnetic polarity stratigraphy in good agreement with a polarity time scale developed by earlier workers. An interpretation of this magnetostratigraphy suggests a basal age for the loess series in this region of 2.5 Ma, and a minimum age for the base of the Red Clay Formation, which is also the base of the section, of 5.0 Ma.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)146-153
Number of pages8
JournalPhysics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors
Volume70
Issue number3-4
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 1992
Externally publishedYes

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