Dynamic Image Analysis grain-size and grain-shape distribution and endmember modelling data, and mineralogy data for top 10 m of Mangshan Loess section MS2006

The Mangshan loess section MS2006 is located on the NW edge of the Mangshan Plateau. The 59m thick S0-L1-S1 loess–pedogenic complex was continuously sampled in 36 partly overlapping, freshly dug, vertical trenches at a 5 cm resolution during a field campaign in 2006.

Grain-size and grain-shape analysis (samples in 5 cm resolution from the top 10 m; n = 205) was performed on a Sympatec QICPIC dynamic image analyser at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. The size and shape data was extracted from resulting digital images by applying ImgProc software (van Hateren et al., 2020).

The endmember modelling of size-shape distributions was performed with Analysize algorithm by Patterson and Heslop (2015). The sample set was fitted with one to ten (non-parametic) endmembers to asses the number of endmembers needed yielding to best fit, without over fitting, with three endmembers.

Mineral composition was examined for a subset of samples (samples in approx. 50 cm resolution from the top 10 m; n = 20) Chemical map analysing software XMapTools (Lanari et al., 2019) was utilized for extracting mineral compositions from EDS-SEM element maps (energy dispersive spectroscopy in scanning electron microscope JEOL JSM-5900-LV).

References for the applied software/algorithms:

van Hateren, J.A., van Buuren, U., Arens, S.M., van Balen, R.T., Prins, M.A., 2020. Identifying sediment transport mechanisms from grain size–shape distributions, applied to aeolian sediments. Earth Surface Dynamics 8, 527–553. https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-527-2020

Lanari, P., Vho, A., Bovay, T., Airaghi, L., Centrella, S., 2019. Quantitative compositional mapping of mineral phases by electron probe micro-analyser. Geological Society of London, Special Publications 478, 39–63. https://doi.org/10.1144/SP478.4

Paterson, G.A., Heslop, D., 2015 New methods for unmixing sediment grain size data, Geochemistry, Geography, Geodesy 16, 4494–4506. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GC006070