A new correlation between Chinese loess and deep-sea δ18O records since the middle Pleistocene

Abstract The Quaternary Chinese loess is one of the most continuous terrestrial sediments, and preserves excellent palaeoclimate records at different timescales. The conventional land-ocean palaeoclimatic comparison has been established by correlation between magnetic susceptibility of the Chinese loess and deep-sea δ 18 O records during the 1980s. However, such a correlation results in long-standing debates on the lock-in depth of the palaeomagnetic polarity boundaries in Chinese loess. In this study, the lock-in depth of palaeomagnetic signals for loess 10 Be RPI curves, and are linearly related with the calculated loess dust accumulation rate. Palaeomagnetic displacement for the geomagnetic polarity boundaries and excursions in the middle Pleistocene loess at Luochuan, Zhaojiachuan and Lingtai sections could be estimated using the linear relation only in decimeter scale (generally