Drill core Uranium and Neodymium isotopic constraints on the provenance of the Mu Us dune field, northern China
Maotong Li
Key Laboratory of Western China's Environment Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Guodong Zhang
Key Laboratory of Western China's Environment Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
Correspondence
Guodong Zhang, Key Laboratory of Western China's Environment Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Email: [email protected]
Junsheng Nie, School of Earth Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Search for more papers by this authorBenhong Guo
School of Earth Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
Search for more papers by this authorFei Peng
School of Earth Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
Search for more papers by this authorHaopeng Geng
Key Laboratory of Western China's Environment Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Junsheng Nie
School of Earth Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
Correspondence
Guodong Zhang, Key Laboratory of Western China's Environment Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Email: [email protected]
Junsheng Nie, School of Earth Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Search for more papers by this authorMaotong Li
Key Laboratory of Western China's Environment Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Guodong Zhang
Key Laboratory of Western China's Environment Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
Correspondence
Guodong Zhang, Key Laboratory of Western China's Environment Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Email: [email protected]
Junsheng Nie, School of Earth Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Search for more papers by this authorBenhong Guo
School of Earth Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
Search for more papers by this authorFei Peng
School of Earth Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
Search for more papers by this authorHaopeng Geng
Key Laboratory of Western China's Environment Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Junsheng Nie
School of Earth Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
Correspondence
Guodong Zhang, Key Laboratory of Western China's Environment Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Email: [email protected]
Junsheng Nie, School of Earth Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Recent studies suggest that sediments derived from the northeastern Tibetan Plateau are potential sources for the western Mu Us dune field in northern China. However, this hypothesis conflicts with the (234U/238U) activity ratios and Nd isotopic values of the modern western Mu Us dune field. Here, we measured the (234U/238U) activity ratios and Nd isotopic values of two late Quaternary drill core samples from the western Mu Us dune field. The results align with the ranges observed in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau-derived upper Yellow River samples, confirming that these sediments are a likely source for the western Mu Us dune field during periods unaffected by human activity. This finding underscores the role of aeolian-fluvial interactions in shaping the dryland landscape of northern China. We suspect that the modern Mu Us dune field samples may have been affected by factors like human activities so inferences of sedimentary provenance based solely on modern samples should be cautious.
Open Research
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
Data are available in the Supporting information.
Supporting Information
| Filename | Description |
|---|---|
| esp70078-sup-0001-Supplementary_Material.xlsxExcel 2007 spreadsheet , 174.6 KB | Data S1. Supplementary Information. |
| esp70078-sup-0002-Supplementary_Figures.docxWord 2007 document , 321.9 KB | Figure S1. Quaternary thickness distribution map and the core BYXL location map of the Mu Us dune field. The isopach line data were sourced from the Xi'an Center of China Geological Survey. |
Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.
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