Holocene climatic events recorded in palaeoflood slackwater deposits along the middle Yiluohe River valley, middle Yellow River basin, China

• Holocene palaeoflood slackwater deposits were identified in the Yiluohe River valley.
• Analytical results showed they were deposited from the suspended sediment load.
• They were differentiated from the eolian loess, soils and eolian sand in the valley.
• They were dated to 3100–3000 a, 1800–1700 a, 770–610 a, and 420–340 a, respectively.
• They represents the hydro-climatic events occurred during the known climatic events.

Palaeohydrological investigations were carried out in the middle reaches of the Yiluohe River, a major tributary in the lower–middle Yellow River basin. Typical palaeoflood slackwater deposits (SWDs) were identified in the Holocene pedostratigraphy on the cliffy river banks. Analytical results, including magnetic susceptibility and grain-size distribution data, indicated that these SWDs were deposited from the suspended sediment load in flood water. These SWDs are different from eolian loess, soils and aeolian sands in the riverbank profile. They recorded several episodes of extraordinary palaeoflood events. In the Longmenxia reaches of the Yihe River valley, these flood events were dated at 3100–3000 a, 1800–1700 a, 770–610 a, and 420–340 a using the optically stimulated luminescence method in combination with the pedostratigraphic correlations. In the Longhutan reaches of the Luohe River valley, the palaeoflood events were dated at 1975–1466 a, i.e., from the Han to Wei dynasties (AD 25–534), during which the capital city on the river banks was flooded many times, as recorded in the literature. These extraordinary flood events are well correlated chronologically with the known Holocene climatic events that occurred in the Northern Hemisphere. Thus, the monsoonal climate was highly variable with both floods and droughts occurring frequently during these episodes. These results are important for understanding the response of river systems in eastern Asia to global changes.