Heavy mineral record of the Holocene environment on the Loess Plateau in China and its pedogenetic significance

Three, sections of Holocene loess on the Loess Plateau were studied to document environmental and pedogenetic changes in heavy minerals in the fine sand to fine silt fraction (0.25-0.01 mm). The sections were in a north-south transect and ranged in age from 10 000 ± 200 year B.P. to the present. The heavy minerals consist mainly of homblende, epidote and opaque minerals. However, there are differences in the content of unstable minerals and in the surface characteristics of grains. Indices based on mineral ratios and grain surface characteristics suggest that the so-called Heilutu soil, which has been recognized as a modern soil, was subjected to variations in natural weathering conditions, aeolian loess deposition and human impacts. Its profile indicates that it is a polygenetic soil.