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Ancient landslide-dam events in the Jishi Gorge, upper Yellow River valley, China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Guanghui Dong ,
Fanyu Zhang ,
Minmin Ma ,
Yuxin Fan ,
Jiawu Zhang ,
Zongli Wang  and
Fahu Chen
Guanghui Dong*
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems, Ministry of Education, Research School of Arid Environment and Climate Change, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu Province 730000, China
Fanyu Zhang
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Mechanics on Disaster and Environment in Western China, Ministry of Education, Department of Geological Engineering, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu Province 730000, China
Minmin Ma
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems, Ministry of Education, Research School of Arid Environment and Climate Change, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu Province 730000, China
Yuxin Fan
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems, Ministry of Education, Research School of Arid Environment and Climate Change, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu Province 730000, China
Jiawu Zhang
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems, Ministry of Education, Research School of Arid Environment and Climate Change, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu Province 730000, China
Zongli Wang
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems, Ministry of Education, Research School of Arid Environment and Climate Change, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu Province 730000, China
Fahu Chen
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems, Ministry of Education, Research School of Arid Environment and Climate Change, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu Province 730000, China
*
*Corresponding author. Fax: + 86 931 8912330. E-mail addresses:ghdong@lzu.edu.cn (G. Dong),zhangfy@lzu.edu.cn. (F. Zhang)
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Abstract

Some scholars have argued that the formation and outburst of an ancient dammed lake in the Jishi Gorge at ca. 3700 cal yr BP resulted in the destruction of Lajia, the site of a famous prehistoric disaster in the Guanting Basin, upper Yellow River valley, China. However, the cause of the dammed lake and the exact age of the dam breaching are still debated. We investigated ancient landslides and evidence for the dammed lake in the Jishi Gorge, including dating of soil from the shear zone of an ancient landslide, sediments of the ancient dammed lake, and loess above lacustrine sediments using radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating methods. Six radiocarbon dates and two OSL dates suggested that the ancient landslides and dammed lake events in the Jishi Gorge probably occurred around 8100 cal yr BP, and the ancient dammed lake was breached between 6780 cal yr BP and 5750 cal yr BP. Hence, the outburst of the ancient dammed lake in the Jishi Gorge was unrelated to the ruin of the Lajia site, but likely resulted in flood disasters in the Guanting Basin around 6500 cal yr BP.

Keywords

Radiocarbon datingOSL datingAncient landslidesDammed lakeJishi GorgeUpper Yellow River valley
Type
Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 81 , Issue 3 , May 2014 , pp. 445 - 451
Copyright
University of Washington

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