Abstract: LoessPaleosol sequences provide a good continental record of paleoclimatic changes. The existence of loess deposits in the Yangtze River delta and islands in the East China Sea indicated that eolian dust deposited on these area since the last glacial period. It has been shown that loess deposits in the Yangtze River delta and islands in the East China Sea are the extension of upper formation of Xiashu loess deposits. Loess in East China, characterized by thin stratum, complex formation and intensively secondary alteration, records the alternation of cold and warm fluctuations since late Pleistocene, as well as the evolution of East Asia monsoon. The curves of particle size and magnetic susceptibility do not change as regularly as that of the loess deposits in West China, and the analysis of clay minerals and chemical components reveal that the intensive leaching process after deposition. Thus we should pay more attention on the local environment, the landform and the intensively alteration after its deposition before any attempts at paleoclimatic reconstruction. It is suggested that multiparameter investigations represent a powerful approach for paleoclimatic reseach into the complex loess deposits record in the Yangtze River delta and the islands in the East China Sea.

Key words: East China, pedogenesis, paleoclimate, Yangtze River delta, loess deposits, East China, pedogenesis, paleoclimate, Yangtze River delta