Age estimation of the mid-Pleistocene microtektite event in the South China Sea: A case showing the complexity of the sea-land correlation

The present study confirms the stratigraphical position of microtektite lay er being clearly located below the Brunhes/Matuyama (B/M) boundary. Based o n the sedimentation rate derived from the stable isotopic and magnetic data of ODP Site 772A, cores 17957 and 17959 in the South China Sea, the age of the mid-Pleistocene impact event was estimated at 10-12 ka earlier than th e Brunhes-Matuyama polarity reversal. However, the microtektites were found above the measured B/M boundary in the loess profile due to the downward d eviation of the measured B/M boundary from its true position([1]). This dem onstrates the complexity of paleo-magnetic records in the loess profiles wh ich, in turn, causes the confusion in the sea-land stratigraphic correlatio n.