Comparisons of grain size characteristics of red earth from southern Chinawith that of loess and dune sand from Beijing region

The comparisons of grain size distributions among eolian deposits along the monsoon wind trajectory are a fundamental task for the reconstruction of t he past wind regimes. Here the authors sampled the dune sands in Hunsandak desert, loess deposits in Beijing region and red earth in southern China. G rain size analyses show that the distribution models of the loess and dune sand samples are unimodal whereas the red earth and paleosol are polymodal. The red earth, paleosol, loess and dune samples are distinguished and clos ely related to one another in grain size parameter diagrams. Moreover, the grain size distributions and parameters of the red earth and paleosol are s imilar, implying that the red earth in southern China and the paleosol in n orthern China had the same origin.