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High-Resolution Paleoclimatic Information from Chinese Eolian Sediments Based on Grayscale Intensity Profiles

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Stephen C. Porter
Stephen C. Porter*
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences and Quaternary Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, 98195-1360
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Abstract

Grayscale intensity profiles from photographic images offer a rapid means of obtaining paleoclimate proxy records from Chinese loess, dune sand, and paleosols. Although the data can be obtained using conventional 35-mm film images, a digital camera and laptop computer will produce a high-resolution grayscale profile at a field site within minutes. Comparison of grayscale profiles with profiles of magnetic susceptibility measured down loess and dune-sand sections at sites on the Loess Plateau and Tibetan Plateau in a range of altitudes and climatic regimes shows that the two parameters are highly correlated. Therefore, grayscale intensity is a convenient alternative to magnetic susceptibility for generating paleoclimatic data in the loess and desert-margin regions of China. The resolution of both grayscale and susceptibility profiles ultimately is limited by bioturbation, which is most pronounced in paleosols.

Keywords

ChinaloesspaleosolsLoess Plateaugrayscale intensitymagnetic susceptibilitybioturbation
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 53 , Issue 1 , January 2000 , pp. 70 - 77
Copyright
University of Washington

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