Review of recent developments in mineral magnetism of the Chinese loess

Mineral magnetism of the Chinese loess has been investigated for more than 20 years. Although there is a consensus that the neoformation of fine-grained maghemite particles in the superparamagnetic (SP) and single-domain (SD) grain size regions accounts for the magnetic enhancement in the Chinese palcosols, quantitative retrieval of paleoclimatic signals in terms of rock magnetic proxies is still a subject of debate. The ambiguities arise from the inherent complexities of magnetic proxies as well as the multiple factors that control the pedogenic processes. Therefore, a better description of the magnetic assemblage (including its mineralogy, grain size distribution and stoichiometry) of two distinct origins (pedogenic and eolian) can help us better understand mechanisms behind variations in magnetic proxies at different timescales, in order to link them to the paleoclimatic processes. This review focuses on recent developments in loess magnetism, and carefully evaluates merits and limitations of rock magnetic proxies. Furthermore, several currently unsolved problems are addressed. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.