Zhonghui Liu, The University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam Road, Hong Kong, Bowen Meng, The University of Hong Kong, Department of Earth Sciences, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Sergey Krivonogov, Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Russia, Qingfeng Jiang, Nantong University, Institute of Geographic Engineering Technology, School of Geography Sciences, Nantong, China, Juzhi Hou, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, Cheng Zhao, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China, Aifeng Zhou, Lanzhou University, Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou, China, Weiguo Liu, Chinese Academy of Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Xi'an, China and Fahu Chen, ITP Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China