Characteristics of the composition of the Zhangxia loess and its origin

Abstract：Loess layers with different thicknesses are piled up widely on terraces of the Dasha River and piedmont zones. According to a study of the Zhangxia loess section, the author thinks that the materials of the loess have complex sources, comprising not only materials transported by west wind drifts and northwest and Laizhou Bay air currents but also local materials. During their accumulation, they were subjected to the action of water. The accumulation and development of the Zhangxia loess and paleosol accorded with the late Pleistocene climatic change and were also influenced by local microrelief, with black loam and Holocene deposits being absent. Zhangxia and Zibo are located in the central part of Shandong, where loess is finer in grain size, so loess in Shandong has no regularity to follow on the whole, which more evidently shows that the loess is complex and variable.