ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Earth Sci.
Sec. Quaternary Science, Geomorphology and Paleoenvironment
Identification and provenance analysis of sediments' end-members in the typical black soil area of Northeast China
Provisionally accepted
- 1China Geological Survey Langfang Integrated Natural Resources Survey Center, Tianjin, China
- 2Lishu Field Scientific Observation and Research Station for Earth Critical Zone on Black Soil, CGS, Tianjin, China
- 3China University of Geosciences Beijing School of Water Resources and Environment, Beijing, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
The Songnen Plain is a significant black soil region in China, where the sedimentary processes and provenance of sediments are crucial for reconstructing the regional environmental evolution. In this study, end‑member modeling analysis coupled with geochemical proxies of major and trace elements was applied to systematically investigate the grain‑size distribution and sediment sources in the northwestern margin of the Songnen Plain. Paired samples from surface (0.2 m) and subsurface (1.0 m) layers across different geomorphic units were compared. Four to six distinct grain-size end members were identified, with their number and characteristics varying across geomorphic units. These include long-range aeolian dust (EM1), mid‑range suspended aeolian material (EM2), mid‑ to short‑range wind‑sorted sand (EM3), fluvial suspended and channel deposits (EM4-5), and slope mud‑flow deposits (EM6). Aeolian end‑members (EM1-3) dominate both surface and subsurface sediments (>71%), whereas fluvial components (<29%) were mainly derived from the Greater Hinggan Mountains and local sources. Provenance analysis further indicates that the Horqin Sandy Land, rather than the Songnen Sandy Land, served as the primary aeolian source. This study provides new sedimentological evidence for understanding the provenance and depositional mechanisms on the northwestern margin of the Songnen Plain.
Keywords: End member analysis, Grain size characteristics, Provenance analysis, Sedimentological information, Songnen plain
Received: 19 Nov 2025; Accepted: 15 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Qi, Ma, Jing, Sun, Wang and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jiahao Qi
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.