地理学报(英文版)

Journal of Geographical Sciences ›› 2008, Vol. 18 ›› Issue (2): 211-224.doi: 10.1007/s11442-008-0211-5

• Climate and Environmental Change • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Sedimentary characteristics of paleo-aeolian dune sands of Salawusu Formation in the Salawusu River Valley

OU Xianjiao1,3, LI Baosheng1,2, JIN Heling4, DONG Guangrong4, David Dian ZHANG5, WU Zheng1, WEN Xiaohao1, ZENG Lanhua3, OUYANG Chuntao1, YANG Yi1, LIU Yufei1   

  1. 1. School of Geography, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China|
    2. State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, CAS, Xi’an 710061, China|
    3. Department of Geography, Jiaying University, Meizhou 514015, China|
    4. Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, CAS, Lanzhou 730000, China|
    5. Department of Geography and Geology, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
  • Received:2007-09-21 Revised:2007-11-10 Online:2008-06-25 Published:2008-06-25
  • Supported by:

    National Basic Research Program of China, No.2004CB720206; National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.40772118; No.49971009; The RGC Grant of the HKSAR, No.HKU 7243/04H

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Abstract:

The Salawusu Formation of Milanggouwan section in Salawusu River Valley in-cludes 7 layers of paleo-mobile dune sands, and 4 layers of paleo-fixed and semi-fixed dune sands. Their structures have been observed and their grain size, surface textural features and several main chemical elements have been analyzed. The results showed that: 1) Some of the aeolian structural characteristics of these dune sands are similar to that of the recent dune sands. 2) They are also similar to the recent dune sands in grain size components, and parameters of Mz, σ, Sk and Kg, as well as in several main chemical components. 3) The scattergrams of Mz-σ and SiO2–Al2O3+TOFE and the probability curves of grain size showed that these paleo-dune sands are different from paleosols and fluvio-lacustrine facies, but are consistency with recent dune sands. 4) Quartz sands have well roundness and surface textural features such as dish-shaped pits, crescent-shaped pits, pockmarked pits, upturned cleavage plates, siliceous precipitates and siliceous crevasses, indicating that they had been carried for a long time by the wind. As the 11 layers of paleo-dune sands possess the aeolian characteristics in structure, grain size, surface textural features and chemical elements, the origin of their formation should be attributed to eolation.

Key words: Salawusu River Valley, Salawusu Formation, paleo-aeolian dune sands, aeolian sedimentary charac-teristics