Mid-Pleistocene vermiculated red soils in southern China as an indication of unusually strengthened East Asian monsoon

The mid-Pleistocene vermiculated red soils (VRS) from Xuancheng (Anhui Province) and Bose (Guangxi) are studied through soil micromorphological, mineralogical and chemical approaches. The results indicate a polygenetic nature of the VRS, having experienced multiple soil-forming stages. Three main stages have been recognized, attributable to distinct climate regimes. They include the formation of the homogeneous matrix of a red soil (stage 1), development of the white veins within the soil profile (stage 2), and formation of juxtaposed textural features (stage 3). The white veins, resulting from iron-depletion in the groundmass of the homogeneous matrix of a red soil, required abundant rainfall without significant seasonal desiccations. The geographically widely spread VRS south of the Yangtze River in China implies a Mid-Pleistocene extreme East Asian summer monsoon. This climate extreme might be closely linked with the changes in the strength of NADW.