Wind erosion on the north-eastern Tibetan Plateau : constraints from OSL and U-Th dating of playa salt crust in the Qaidam Basin

Auteur(s) et Affiliation(s)

HAN, W.

Key Lab. of Salt Lake Resources and Chemistry andQinghai Inst. of Salt Lakes, CAS, Xining, Chine

State Key Lab. of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Inst. of Earth Environment, CAS, Xi'an, Chine

MA, Z.

Key Lab. of Cenozoic Geology and Environment, Inst. of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, Chine

LAI, Z.

Key Lab. of Salt Lake Resources and Chemistry andQinghai Inst. of Salt Lakes, CAS, Xining, Chine

State Key Lab. of Cryospheric Sciences, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Inst., CAS, Lanzhou, Chine

APPEL, E.

Fachbereich für Geowissenschaften, Univ., Tübingen, Allemagne

FANG, X.

Key Lab. of Continental Collision and Plateau Uplift and Inst. of Tibetan Plateau research, CAS, Beijing, Chine

YU, L.

Qinghai Geological Survey Inst., Xining, Chine

State Key Lab. of Cryospheric Sciences, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Inst., CAS, Lanzhou, Chine

Description :
The aim of this paper is to constrain the timing of the formation of salt crusts and playas in the Qaidam Basin. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and U-series dating from a pit section and from the top of a deep drill core, together with results from magnetostratigraphy and a climate proxy record correlated to the marine oxygen isotope record, are used here to determine the age of the playa plains and suggest that the salt crusts have an age of c. 0.1 Ma. This young age and the wide distribution of resistant thick salt crusts of the playa plains indicate a much lower degree of wind erosion than previously suggested. The crusts protect the surface from significant surface erosion (including sediment exhumation and unloading) and whilst some wind erosion does occur, it is unlikely to be sufficient to trigger tectonic uplift of the basin or to be a major dust source for the Loess Plateau as previously suggested.

Type de document :
Article de périodique

Source :
Earth surface processes and landforms, issn : 0197-9337, 2014, vol. 39, n°. 6, p. 779-789, nombre de pages : 11, Références bibliographiques : 2 p.

Date :
2014

Editeur :
Pays édition : Royaume-Uni, Chichester, Wiley

Langue :
Anglais