@article{LichtDupontNivetPullenetal.2016,
  author    = {Licht, Alexis and Dupont-Nivet, Guillaume and Pullen, A. and Kapp, P. and Abels, Hemmo A. and Lai, Z. and Guo, Z. and Abell, Jordan and Giesler, D.},
  title     = {Resilience of the Asian atmospheric circulation shown by Paleogene dust provenance},
  series = {Nature Communications},
  volume    = {7},
  journal   = {Nature Communications},
  publisher = {Nature Publ. Group},
  address   = {London},
  issn      = {2041-1723},
  doi       = {10.1038/ncomms12390},
  pages     = {885 -- 894},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {The onset of modern central Asian atmospheric circulation is traditionally linked to the interplay of surface uplift of the Mongolian and Tibetan-Himalayan orogens, retreat of the Paratethys sea from central Asia and Cenozoic global cooling. Although the role of these players has not yet been unravelled, the vast dust deposits of central China support the presence of arid conditions and modern atmospheric pathways for the last 25 million years (Myr). Here, we present provenance data from older (42-33 Myr) dust deposits, at a time when the Tibetan Plateau was less developed, the Paratethys sea still present in central Asia and atmospheric pCO(2) much higher. Our results show that dust sources and near-surface atmospheric circulation have changed little since at least 42 Myr. Our findings indicate that the locus of central Asian high pressures and concurrent aridity is a resilient feature only modulated by mountain building, global cooling and sea retreat.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{LichtPullenKappetal.2016,
  author    = {Licht, Alexis and Pullen, A. and Kapp, P. and Abell, Jordan and Giesler, N.},
  title     = {Eolian cannibalism: Reworked loess and fluvial sediment as the main sources of the Chinese Loess Plateau},
  series = {Geological Society of America bulletin},
  volume    = {128},
  journal   = {Geological Society of America bulletin},
  publisher = {American Institute of Physics},
  address   = {Boulder},
  issn      = {0016-7606},
  doi       = {10.1130/B31375.1},
  pages     = {944 -- 956},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {The loess and paleosol sequences of the Chinese Loess Plateau are composed of Quaternary dust, the origin of which has been the subject of considerable debate. Some recent U-Pb geochronological studies of eolian zircons have proposed the existence of two major wind pathways: from the north and northwest, through the Badan Jaran, Tengger, and Mu Us Deserts during interglacials, and from the west, through the Qaidam Basin during glacials. Others have emphasized the importance of Yellow River sediment supply in the Chinese Loess Plateau sediment budget. However, tracking dust source regions through U-Pb dating in a statistically robust manner is particularly complex given the similar age peaks in the age probability distributions of potential source regions in Central Asia. This paper presents 2410 new U-Pb ages of detrital zircons from wind-eroded strata, Quaternary eolian deposits, and modern river sands in central China in order to increase the robustness and the spatial resolution of zircon age distributions in dust source regions. We then propose a new mixture modeling technique to statistically address the contribution of these different sources to the Chinese Loess Plateau sedimentary budget. Our contribution estimates indicate that eolian supply to the Chinese Loess Plateau is dominated (60\%-70\%) by reworking of Yellow River sediment. Moreover, evidence of Qaidam Basin-sourced zircons (15\%-20\%) in both loess (glacial) and paleosol (interglacial) layers corroborates the existence of an erosive wind pathway through the Qaidam Basin during glacials and implies that a substantial portion of the interglacial dust is recycled from older glacial loess. We propose that sediment reworking of Yellow River sediment and older loess deposits by wind on the Chinese Loess Plateau homogenized the eolian zircon populations toward a glacial provenance due to higher (2-20 times) dust accumulation rates during glacials. These findings suggest that the Chinese Loess Plateau has evolved as a more dynamic landform than previous thought, where wind deflation, fluvial input, lateral transport, and accumulation of sediment are equally important. These internal reworking effects would then significantly bias the paleoclimatic interpretations based on eolian dust properties of the Chinese Loess Plateau.},
  language  = {en}
}