Wucheng Loess

This is the name for the Early Pleistocene loess layer (Q1) that was proposed by Liu Dongsheng and Zhang Zonghu in 1962. This layer is 17.5 m thick and overlies the red loess. The 15th layer of the palaeosol overlies the Wucheng loess. The typical profile is near Wucheng Town in Xi County, Shanxi Province. The strata is red and contains particles of silty sand, and the silty sand and clay content is higher than that of loess in the later stage. The texture is homogeneous, dense and solid with a high degree of diagenesis and few large pores. It is characterised by several layers of reddish brown palaeosols and calcareous nodules. This loess layer contains fossils of Hipparion sinense (Chinese long-nosed three-toed horse), Equus sameniensis (Sanmen horse), Nyctereutus procyonoides (Chinese raccoon) and Sus lydekkeri (wild boar). The geomagnetic age of the lower boundary of the Wucheng loess is 2.48 million years (Fig. 16).

Fig. 16

Wucheng loess (lower part is the Hipparion red earth) –...