Magnetic properties derived from a loess section at the northern piedmont of Tianshan Mountains, Xinjiang, China, and their paleoenvironmental significance

Loess deposits in the arid Central Asia contain valuable information on the evolution of local aridification and dust sources in the Northern Hemisphere. Xinjiang is located in the eastern part of Central Asia and previous researches have revealed the complex enhancement of magnetic susceptibility in loess-paleosol sequences. However, systematic magnetic archives of loess deposit in this arid Asian interior are still far from adequate. In this study, magnetic parameters combined with nonmagnetic properties (granulometry and chromaticity) were analysed on a loess section in Shawan (SW), northwestern China. The section shares a similar magnetic composition with those in the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) as well as other sites in Xinjiang. Ferrimagnetic components (magnetite and maghemite) dominate the magnetic signal while the contribution of antiferromagnetic phases (like hematite and goethite) and paramagnetic portions are relatively low. There is no specific correlation between magnetic concentration and pedogenic intensity in the SW section. In general, magnetic enhancement was largely influenced by the paleowind intensity. However, a positive correlation between magnetic susceptibility and pedogenesis is observed in the upper part (0-3.5 m depths), which is characterized by a moderate wind intensity. Moreover, pedogenesis might be responsible for the enhancement of fine magnetic particles in paleosols. Magnetic properties are controlled by coarse magnetic particles in the pseudo-single domain state, but a coarse stable single domain phase was found in certain paleosol samples. The input of detrital fractions from a nearby dust source probably controlled the magnetic properties while a superparamagnetic fraction, which has been deemed as a product of pedogenesis in the CLP, is limited in the SW section. Caution is needed to employ magnetic susceptibility directly for paleoclimatic assessment because of its uncertainty in the Xinjiang loess. However, the chi(ARM)/SIRM ratio enhanced in paleosols and has more potential as an alternative index for the weakly pedogenic degree in this area.