Geomorphological and sedimentological comparison of fluvial terraces and karst caves in Zhangjiajie, northwest Hunan, China: an archive of sandstone landform development

The Zhangjiajie Sandstone Peak Forest Geopark (Zhangjiajie World Geopark) of northwest Hunan, China hosts a well-preserved sequence of fluvial terraces and karst caves. In this contribution, a comparative study of fluvial terraces with karst caves along the middle-lower Suoxi River in Zhangjiajie World Geopark is presented to improve the understanding of the development of striking sandstone landscape in the upper Suoxi River. By integrating geomorphological, sedimentological, and geochronological techniques, the possible correlation between fluvial terraces and karst caves, as well as their climatic and tectonic implications is investigated. The available electron spin resonance and thermo-luminescence numerical ages coupled with morphostratigraphic analysis indicate that aggradation of fluvial terrace levels occurred at ca. 347 ± 34 ka (T4), 104.45 ± 8.88 to 117.62 ± 9.99 ka (T3), 60.95 ± 5.18 ka (T2), and Holocene (T1), followed by the stream incision. Fluvial terrace levels (T4 to T1) correlate morphologically with the karst cave levels (L1 to L4), yet the proposed chronology for the fluvial terrace levels is a bit later than the chronological data obtained from karst caves. In northwest Hunan, where a unique sandstone peak forest landscape was extensively developed, the fluvial terrace sequences as well as the cave systems are the important archives for studying the evolution of the sandstone landscape. The beginning of the sandstone landscape development must be earlier than the aggradation of the fluvial terrace T4, allowing this unique landscape to occur in the Middle Pleistocene.