In northeastern (NE) China, extensive loess deposits occur that have great potential for reconstructing the long-term paleoclimatic evolution of the region. Despite existing geochemical data indicate that the probable major source areas for these loess deposits were the nearby Horqin and Otindag deserts, it is still unclear that whether there was a long-term change in the detrital source of these loess deposits. In addition, the aridity history and long-term desert evolution of NE China are currently poorly understood. In the present study, we measured the silicate Nd and Sr isotopic composition of the 28–45 μm grain-size fraction from multiple loess sections (NYZG, SBH, and TDJZ). The results show that the loess deposits of the three sections were dominantly sourced from the Otindag sandy desert and that this source remained constant for the past 1.2 Myr. Notably, the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios are influenced mainly by variations in the content of clay-sized material present in the form of aggregates or adhering to the surface of coarser particles. Therefore, caution is needed in the use of ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of the 28–45 μm fraction as a tracer of eolian dust. The grain-size variability of the three sections indicates that stepwise enhancement of aridification in the Otindag sandy desert occurred at 1.2 Ma, 0.9 Ma, and 0.7 Ma, which coincided respectively with the beginning of the Mid-Pleistocene transition (MPT), an extremely cold event at ~0.9 within the MPT, and the establishment of a full glacial climate at the termination of the MPT. This finding supports the hypothesis that the growth of high-latitude ice sheets was the major driver of the long-term aridification of Asian dust source areas.
 

eolian deposits, loess provenance, Nd and Sr isotopes, grain size, desert expansion, aridification