MAGNETOSTRATIGRAPHIC DATING OF THE LINYI FAUNA AND IMPLICATIONS FOR SEQUENCING THE MAMMALIAN FAUNAS ON THE CHINESE LOESS PLATEAU

Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) in North China is an important terrestrial archive that witnessed the environmental changes and mammal and early human evolution in Asia over the past 2.6 Ma. Establishing precise ages for the Pleistocene faunas on the CLP is critical for better understanding these environmental, biological and archeological issues. Here we report a new magnetostratigraphic record that places stringent age constraints on the Linyi Fauna on the southeastern CLP. Our investigated 170-m thick Linyi section mainly consists of two portions: an overlying eolian Quaternary loess-paleosol sequence with underlying fluvial-lacustrine sand and silty clay. Paleomagnetic results suggest that the composite section records Brunhes chron, Jaramillo and Olduvai subchrons, and successive reverse polarity portions of the intervening Matuyama chron. The Linyi Fauna is located between Jaramillo and Olduvai subchrons in the fluvial-lacustrine interval, with an estimated age of ~1.5–1.6 Ma. Combining previously dated faunas, we establish a Pleistocene magnetochronology spanning from 2.54 to 0.65 Ma for the faunas on the CLP.