Variation of soil magnetism across the Russian steppe: its significance for use of soil magnetism as a palaeorainfall proxy.

Maher, Barbara A. and Alekseev, A. and Alekseeva, T. (2002) Variation of soil magnetism across the Russian steppe: its significance for use of soil magnetism as a palaeorainfall proxy. Quaternary Science Reviews, 21 (14-15). pp. 1571-1576. ISSN 0277-3791

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Abstract

Modern soils across the Chinese Loess Plateau exhibit strong but disputed correlation between their pedogenic magnetic content and annual rainfall. A soil magnetism/rainfall transfer function could provide a quantitative proxy of Quaternary rainfall for this region. However, some argue that �magnetic dilution�, through spatially varying fluxes of weakly magnetic dust, controls the soil magnetic properties. Here, we test the soil magnetism/rainfall couple by examining 22 Russian steppe soils (free of present dust accumulation) across a climatic transect. From the semi-arid Caspian region to the more humid Caucasus, the soils display systematic increases in topsoil ferrimagnetic concentrations. With the exception of climate (and its co-variant, vegetation), soil-forming factors are essentially constant across this stable area. Hence, the soil magnetic variations dominantly reflect climate and from statistical analysis, principally rainfall. Further, the Russian steppe magnetic/rainfall relationship matches that observed for the Chinese Loess Plateau. These independent data thus substantiate the soil magnetism/rainfall climofunction and, by inference, eliminate �dust dilution� as a significant magnetic factor.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Quaternary Science Reviews
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/researchoutput/libraryofcongress/g1
Subjects:
?? SOIL MAGNETISMPALAEOCLIMATE PROXYHOLOCENEQUATERNARYPALAEORAINFALLMODERN SOILSGLOBAL AND PLANETARY CHANGEECOLOGY, EVOLUTION, BEHAVIOR AND SYSTEMATICSGEOLOGYG GEOGRAPHY (GENERAL) ??
ID Code:
298
Deposited On:
02 Jan 2007
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
19 Sep 2023 00:24