Clay mineralogical and geochemical constraints on late Pleistocene weathering processes of the Qaidam Basin, northern Tibetan Plateau

• Late Pleistocene weathering process was reconstructed by clay minerals.
• The relationship between weathering/erosion and climate was demonstrated.
• Clay mineral assemblage is controlled by provenance, tectonic setting and climate.
• The provenance of sediments in ISL1A is mainly felsic igneous rocks.

At the Qarhan Salt Lake (QSL) on the central-eastern Qaidam Basin, northern Tibetan Plateau, Quaternary lacustrine sediments have a thickness of over 3000 m and mainly composed of organic-rich clay and silty clay with some silt halite and halite. In this study, a 102-m-long sediment core (ISL1A) was obtained from the QSL. Combining with AMS 14C and 230Th dating, clay minerals and major-element concentrations of ISL1A were used to reconstruct the weathering process and trend of the QSL since late Pleistocene. The results reveal that the clay mineral from <2 μm fraction in ISL1A is composed of illite (47–77%), chlorite (8–27%), smectite (including illite-smectite mixed layers, 3–29%) and kaolinite (2–11%). Such clay mineral assemblages in ISL1A derived primarily from felsic igneous rocks, gneisses and schists of Eastern Kunlun Mountains on the south of the QSL. The abundance of illite mineral displays an opposite fluctuation trending with that of smectite, chlorite and kaolinite mineral in ISL1A, which is significantly different from the monsoon-controlled regions. Moreover, higher values of illite, kaolinite/chlorite and illite/chlorite ratios, and lower values of smectite, chlorite and kaolinite minerals occurred in 83–72.5 ka, 68.8–54 ka, 32–24 ka, corresponding to late MIS 5, late MIS 4, early MIS 3 and late MIS 3, respectively. These three phases were almost similarly changed with oxygen isotopes of authigenic carbonates and pollen records in ISL1A, which implies that stronger chemical weathering corresponds to higher effective moisture periods of source region in the Qaidam Basin. Based on chemical weathering index and (Al2O3-(CaO + Na2O)-K2O) diagram, chemical weathering degree in this study area takes a varying process from low to intermediate on the whole.