Variation of Rb/Sr Ratios in the Loess-Paleosol Sequences of Central China during the Last 130,000 Years and Their Implications for Monsoon Paleoclimatology

Abstract Rb, Sr, and magnetic susceptibility have been measured in the last interglacial–glacial loess profiles at Luochuan and Huanxian, central China. A high degree of similarity between the parameters in both profiles suggests that variations of Rb/Sr ratios in the sequence can be regarded as an indicator of East Asian summer monsoon strength. Matching the Rb/Sr record with the SPECMAP δ 18 O curve suggests that the Rb/Sr ratio responds sensitively to changes of the East Asian monsoon induced by global ice-volume variation.