A dataset of hydrogen isotopes in leaf wax n-alkanes on the Loess Plateau

<p indent="0mm">The Loess Plateau is the largest loess deposition area in the world, characterized by a fragile ecosystem and high sensitivity to climate change, making it one of the key regions for global change research. Hydrogen isotopes in leaf waxes are widely used in global paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic reconstruction studies, and play an important role in tracing climate and hydrological changes on the Loess Plateau. This dataset compiles hydrogen isotope data of leaf wax <italic>n</italic>-alkanes from various types of samples in the Loess Plateau region, including modern plants, surface soils, loess-paleosol sequences, and controlled-water-cultivated plants from field scientific observation stations. The data were extracted from published, peer-reviewed journal articles. Leaf wax hydrogen isotope data are typically obtained by extracting <italic>n</italic>-alkanes from plants or sediments and analyzing them using a gas chromatograph-high temperature pyrolysis-isotope ratio mass spectrometer system (GC-TC-IRMS). The dataset covers samples from 2000 to 2019, including 249 modern plant samples from 90 sites, 70 surface soil samples from 69 sites, 486 samples from the Xifeng loess-paleosol sequence dating past <sc>800 ka,</sc> 71 samples from the Luochuan loess-paleosol sequence dating past <sc>250 ka,</sc> and 36 water control experimental plant samples at the Gaolan Field Scientific Observation and Research Station. This dataset is expected to provide valuable empirical data for studies on the modern processes of leaf wax hydrogen isotopes and global change studies in the Loess Plateau and northwestern China.