Chloride tracer of the loess unsaturated zone under sub-humid region: A potential proxy recording high-resolution hydroclimate

[Display omitted] •A millennial length hydroclimate archive with high resolution was firstly established using Cl tracer of the unsaturated zone.•Hydroclimatic reconstruction in sub-humid regions using Cl tracer is reliable and sensitive.•Monsoon intensity controls potential groundwater recharge in the sub-humid monsoon regions. A high-resolution hydroclimate archive is critical to understanding the past changes, but such hydroclimatic reconstructions are extremely limited. Our study aims to examine the potential of the chloride tracer (Cl) within unsaturated zone (USZ) to reconstruct high-resolution hydroclimate records. We investigated a representative sub-humid monsoon area of the Chinese Loess highland, where piston flow recharge dominates and a constant rate of Cl input occurs. We successfully reconstructed a 1007-yr hydroclimate record with a 2-yr sampling resolution using a 95-m USZ Cl profile. Excluding the recycling and mixing zone, and the groundwater affecting zone, six relatively humid phases and five relatively dry phases were discernible. The uncertainty in the time of wet/dry phase decreases as the accumulated time increases, and the minimal recharge uncertainty is 16% over a 10-yr time scale. The reconstructed hydroclimate record from the semi-humid region has a much higher resolution than that of the arid zones, likely because the semi-humid, fine-grained thick USZ, possesses higher velocity piston flow, relatively to diffusion and dispersion of Cl signals. The record compared well with other related records, suggesting that the Cl proxy can be used in sub-humid areas, and is sensitive to wet/dry alternations that are largely driven by the Asian monsoon intensity. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first investigation of the USZ Cl to hydroclimatic reconstruction in a non-arid region. The high-resolution hydroclimate record may deepen our understanding of the hydrological process in the deep USZ, past climate and water resources, and promote developments of the hydropedology and global change science.