Comparison of two classification methods to identify grain size fractions of aeolian sediment

摘要

Grain-size class-Std (GSCStd) and Grain-size class-dD (GSCdD) methods are simple statistical approaches for classifying bulk grain-size distributions (GSDs) into grain-size fractions.Although these two methods were developed based on similar statistical principles,the classification difference between these two methods has not been analyzed.In this study,GSC-Std and GSCdD methods are conducted in thirteen grain-size data sequences to examine the applicability for identifying grain size fractions.Results show that,application of the GSCStd method is equivalent to that of the GSCdD method in identifying finer grain-size fractions,and the difference between the two methods mainly comes from the identification of coarse grain-size fractions.Thus,finer grain-size fractions are recommended for use in research of surface aeolian and paleo-aeolian sediments.In addition,our results do not completely agree with previous studies,coarser grain-size fractions in our case suggest that the GSCdD method may not be more applicable than the GSCStd method.