A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF CHANGING SEDIMENTATION CONDITIONS DURING THE LAST INTERGLACIAL-GLACIAL MACROCYCLE IN THE LOESS AREAS OF THE SOUTHERN EAST EUROPEAN PLAIN (THE AZOV SEA REGION) AND CENTRAL CHINA (LOESS PLATEAU)

Multi-proxy studies of loess-soil sequences in the eastern Azov Sea region (Beglitsa‑2 section) and the northwestern Loess Plateau of China (Caoxian section) let us to suggest the correlation of the main stratigraphic horizons and to provide the comparison of landscape and climatic changes in these regions during the last interglacial-glacial climatic macrocycle. It was found that the Loess Plateau was characterized by a steady accumulation of loess during both glacial and interglacial epochs, when the so-called “warm” loess was formed. In the NE Sea of Azov region, the main loess accumulation corresponded to cryoarid conditions of the glacial phases, while during the interglacials, loess accumulation became ten times slower. The average sedimentation rate of loess material calculated for Caoxian section was more than 5 times higher than the one calculated for the Beglitsa‑2 section. Late Pleistocene paleosoils in the Beglitsa‑2 section are of the steppe type and correspond to the Salyn (MIS5e), Krutitsa (MIS5c), and Bryansk (MIS3) climate phases. Morphology of the Azov paleosoils is much better expressed than that of the paleosoils at Caoxian, where only the S1SS3 semidesert paleosoil (MIS5e) can be seen directly in the section. Climatic fluctuations in the southern East European Plain within the last interglacial-glacial macrocycle had significantly greater amplitude than that in the north-west of the Loess Plateau. In the latter, cryoarid glacial conditions alternated with warm semiarid interglacial conditions. In the northwestern Loess Plateau, the main climate dynamics was associated with the hydrological regime changes under the influence of the East Asian monsoon activity, which was at its lowest during the glacial stages (drier climatic phases) and increased during the interglacial and interstadials (wetter climatic phases).

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