Changes in marine sedimentation patterns in the northeastern South China Sea in the past 35,000 years

In the continental margin of the northeastern South China Sea, the sea level fluctuations since the Last Glacial Maximum have profoundly impacted the sedimentary environment. Our sub-bottom profiler data show a sedimentation process change from deposition to erosion during the Last Glacial Maximum. After the widespread erosion, the sedimentation process returned depositional throughout the Holocene, probably due to the rise of the sea level. This sedimentary process results in a widespread sedimentary unconformity in the continental slope, providing a benchmark for the end of the Last Glacial Maximum. Analyzing the sediment cores, we affirm that the change in current intensity is the primary factor controlling the sedimentary environments. The current intensities strengthened during the eustatic lowstand and weakened during the highstand periods, leading to alternating erosional and depositional processes. The widespread distribution of the erosive surface represents a regional-scale change in the sedimentary environment instead of a local event.

Full Text

FilePagesSizeAccess
Publisher's official version
87 Mo
Peer Review file
10334 Ko
Supplementary Information
5742 Ko
How to cite
Chen Kuan-Ting, Hsu Shu-Kun, Tien-Shun lin Andrew, Su Chih-Chieh, Babonneau Nathalie, Ratzov Gueorgui, Lallemand Serge, Huang Pi-Chun, Lin Lien-Kai, Lin Hsiao-Shan, Tsai Ching-Hui, Lin Jing-Yi, Chen Song-Chuen (2024). Changes in marine sedimentation patterns in the northeastern South China Sea in the past 35,000 years. Communications Earth & Environment. 5 (1). 420 (8p.). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01593-3, https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00904/101567/

Copy this text