A new magnetostratigraphic framework for late Neogene Hipparion Red Clay in the eastern Loess Plateau of China

Mammalian fossils, especially the Hipparion fauna, found in the Red Clay of the Loess Plateau, are of immense value for reconstructing late Neogene paleoecology and paleoclimatology in northern China. The lack of a precise chronological framework for these fossil sites has impeded our understanding of the evolution of the Chinese mammalian fauna, their correlation with European mammalian units, and the retrieval of paleoclimatic information. In this study, a field survey of regional stratigraphy in the Baode area of Shanxi was carried out and three profiles (Tanyugou, Yangjiagou-I and Yangjiagou-II) of Late Neogene deposits were selected for detailed investigation. A new chronological framework of the Late Neogene sequences in the Baode area is established by means of paleomagnetism. Our results show that the Red Clay accumulation in the Baode area began at least 7.23 Ma ago. Deposition continued to the superposed Jingle Formation. The most continuous and complete exposure of the Jingle Formation known to date was identified and dated to 2.72~5.34 Ma. A lithological distinction between the Jingle Formation and the underlying Baode Formation forms a clear boundary in the Red Clay that is not coincident with the Miocene/Pliocene boundary documented elsewhere. Three rich fossil layers are found in the Yangjiagou-II profile and dated to 6.43–6.54 Ma, 6.83–6.86 Ma and 7.15–7.18 Ma, respectively. With the application of three different demagnetization techniques, the Matuyama–Gauss geomagnetic reversal boundary was identified in a transitional unit between loess and typical Red Clay deposits. A lock-in depth of as large as 6.8 m (corresponding to ca. 65 ka) was inferred but remains unexplained.