Mid-Pleistocene formation of modern-like desert landscape in North China

The formation and evolution of the deserts in North China have been extensively studied over the past three decades. However, due to the complexity of proxy interpretation and chronological uncertainty, our understanding of the formation of modern-like desert landscapes in North China remains controversial, as inferred from the borehole records within these deserts and eolian deposits in the downwind region. In this study, we synthesised five borehole records within five deserts and seven aeolian sequences in the adjacent loess areas to address the timing and evolution of modern-like desert landscape in North China. A combination of lithological characteristics and proxy records of these boreholes and loess sequences reveals that the formation of the modern-like desert landscape across North China had generally occurred around the Middle Pleistocene. However, the exact timing of each desert change varies slightly from 1.5-0.6 Ma in Northwest China to 1.2-0.7 Ma in Northeast China. Because the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau to its present height occurred much earlier, and considering the general synchronicity of large-scale drying in North China, we propose that global cooling, the expansion of the Northern Hemisphere ice sheets, and increased amplitude of glacial-interglacial (dry-wet) fluctuations may have played a key role in the formation of the modern-like desert landscapes in North China during the Middle Pleistocene.

Automated summary

The formation of modern-like desert landscapes in North China is believed to have occurred during the Middle Pleistocene, with slight variations in timing across different regions. Global cooling, expansion of Northern Hemisphere ice sheets, and increased amplitude of glacial-interglacial fluctuations may have played a key role in this process.