The dominance of loess weathering on water and sediment chemistry within the Daihai Lake catchment, northeastern Chinese Loess Plateau

Comparing the rivers draining the Chinese Loess Plateau with global rivers, both Mg/Ca and 87Sr/86Sr in the Daihai surprisingly agree well with those in the upper and downstream Huanghe (Yellow River), as well as HOAc-soluble loess, but differ significantly from other global rivers. This result reinforces the argument that loess weathering plays the most important role in controlling the sediment and water chemistry in the loess-covered areas, whereas the influence of bedrock weathering is minor. This study on modern processes might provide baselines to decipher down core records for paleoclimate reconstructions, especially for lake/river sediments in (semi-)arid areas.