Landform-derived placement of electrical resistivity prospecting for paleotopography reconstruction in the loess landforms of China

• Landform-derived placement of electrical resistivity prospecting has been proposed for paleotopography reconstruction.
• The electrical resistivity approach could effectively detect the paleotopography and different loess layers.
• The reconstructed paleotopography using the proposed method could effectively represent the morphology of the paleosurface.
• The paleogeography of the loess area in the Ordos platform should be a landform of peneplain and almost a planation surface.

The paleotopography of loess landform represents the initial surface before the evolution of the Aeolian depositional process. This paleotopography served as an indicator of the paleo-geography and erosion base that restrained the evolution of the current landform. In this case study, a landform-derived placement method involving electrical resistivity prospecting is proposed for paleotopography reconstruction. The method consists of extracting terrain feature knowledge and terrain feature-based paleotopography prospecting and reconstruction. The field experiment is validated and used in three typical loess landform areas in the Chinese Loess Plateau. These typical loess landforms include loess hill, loess ridge, and loess tableland. Terrain features considered include peaks, saddles, ridges, and gullies. The results show significant electrical resistivity difference between the paleotopography and loess strata. The electrical resistivity method could effectively detect the paleotopography and different loess layers. The reconstructed paleotopography using the feature-based method could effectively represent the morphology of the paleosurface compared to the result of the interpolation method. The reconstructed paleotopography also appears as a coincident terrain relief compared to modern topography; such a relief demonstrates significant landform inheritance between modern terrain and paleotopography. In the loess hill and ridge landform areas, the relative elevation difference of paleotopography is approximately 50 m whereas that of the modern terrain is roughly 150 m, indicating that the loess deposition process increased the topographic relief from paleotopography to modern terrain by approximately 100 m. Similar altitude of the paleotopographic peaks (roughly 10 m height difference) appears in the two nearby loess ridge and hill areas. The results indicate that paleo-geography of this area should be a landform of peneplain and almost a planation surface.