Persistent aridification trend in Northeast China since 1.32 Ma

The loess deposits of Northeast China provide a comprehensive record of upwind desert evolution, offering critical evidence for studying Asian inland aridification. This study focuses on the Niuyingzi (NYZ) section in Chifeng, Northeast China, where magnetostratigraphic dating confirms for the first time, its basal age of 1.32 Ma, representing the oldest known loess deposits in Northeast China. Using environmental magnetic parameters, we reconstructed the aridification history of Northeast China, which reveals the persistent intensification of aridity since 1.32 Ma, together with three major aridification events. The first event occurred at 1.17 Ma, likely driven by regional climate change. The second and third events occurred at similar to 0.92 Ma and similar to 0.65 Ma, respectively, and were synchronous across the extensive inland regions of Asia. Furthermore, since similar to 0.5 Ma, Northeast China experienced accelerated aridification, possibly linked to the development of large-scale sand-dune landforms in the upwind Otindag Sandy Land. Comparison with aridity proxy records from Africa and Australia demonstrates the synchronous intensification of aridity across Asia and Africa at similar to 0.9 Ma, driven primarily by Northern Hemisphere ice sheet expansion. This study fills a critical spatiotemporal gap in sedimentary records from the eastern flank of the Asian arid belt, providing mechanistic insights into aridification dynamics across inland Asia.