Magnetic properties of red clay section along the Jiu-Lu highway at Jiujiang, JiangXi and implications for pedogenesis

Quaternary red clay in southern China is an important media for the study of paleoenvironmental change. Detailed magnetic characterization was carried out on the JL(Jiu-Lu) red clay section at Jiujiang, JiangXi Province, with the purpose to investigate the feasibility of magnetic properties in paleoclimate reconstruction. The results show that magnetic susceptibility increases with stronger degree of pedogenesis in the upper weakly weathering layer. However, magnetic susceptibility and S-ratio declines while Hard Isothermal Remanent Magnetization (HIRM) increases significantly in the lower strongly weathering reticulate red clay layer, which results from the enrichment of antiferromagnetic minerals. In comparison to magnetic susceptibility, an use of multiple magnetic parameters can play a significant role in paleoclimate reconstruction for red clay in southern China.