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Early Pleistocene integration of the Yellow River I: Detrital-zircon evidence from the North China Plain

Guoqiao Xiao 1, 2, * Yuqi Sun 1 Jilong Yang 3, * Qiuzhen Yin 4 Guillaume Dupont-Nivet 5, 6, 7 Alexis Licht 8 Alan Kehew 9 Yunzhuang Hu 3 Jianzhen Geng 3 Gaowen Dai 10 Qingyu Zhao 10 Zhipeng Wu 10, 4
* Corresponding author
1 Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology
2 Hubei Key Laboratory of Critical Zone Evolution
3 China Geological Survey
4 UCL - Université Catholique de Louvain
5 GR - Géosciences Rennes
6 University of Potsdam
7 Key Laboratory of Orogenic Belts and Crustal Evolution
8 University of Washington [Seattle]
9 Western Michigan University [Kalamazoo]
10 State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology
Abstract : The Yellow River (YR) is one of the longest and most sediment-laden rivers in the world. However, the timing and mechanism of the integration of upstream and downstream reaches of the YR is still debated, with estimates ranging from >34 Ma to ~0.15 Ma. Here we address this debate by studying the detrital-zircon age spectra from three boreholes that penetrate late Miocene sediment in the lower YR floodplain. Our results show a significant provenance change between 1.6 and 1.5 Ma marking the input of new materials from the Middle Reach and/or the Upper Reach, suggesting the upstream and downstream parts of the YR were connected between 1.6 and 1.5 Ma. This late establishment of the YR is not consistent with the timing of uplift of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau and surrounding mountain ranges and thus precludes a tectonic control; however, it follows the Plio-Pleistocene onset of large-amplitude sea level changes, associated with a worldwide increase of fluvial incision. We propose that Plio-Pleistocene base level fluctuations likely triggered fluvial erosion propagating upstream from the YR lower reach and were thus the main driving force for river integration.
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Submitted on : Wednesday, March 11, 2020 - 8:39:13 AM
Last modification on : Tuesday, May 11, 2021 - 1:04:02 PM

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Guoqiao Xiao, Yuqi Sun, Jilong Yang, Qiuzhen Yin, Guillaume Dupont-Nivet, et al.. Early Pleistocene integration of the Yellow River I: Detrital-zircon evidence from the North China Plain. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, Elsevier, 2020, 546, pp.109691. ⟨10.1016/j.palaeo.2020.109691⟩. ⟨insu-02504733⟩

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