Anatomy of the transgressive depositional system in a sediment-rich tide-dominated estuary: The paleo-Yangtze estuary, China

Abstract

Sediment-rich tide-dominated estuary is generally considered nonexistent or ephemeral under the stable sea-level condition, given the rapid transition to a deltaic system after massive sediments dumping at the river mouth. The well-preserved transgressive sequence in the Yangtze paleo-valley represents an excellent location to examine the interplay between sediment supply, tide action, and sea-level change. To study the Yangtze paleo-valley geomorphological evolution and facies model, four 60-90-m long cores (YD0901, YD0902, YD0903, and CX03) were obtained. Lithological description, grain-size analysis, XRF core scanning, and AMS 14C dating were carried out. The results show that the Yangtze incised valley evolved from a river channel system (before 14.6 ka), through a tidal river (14.6-13 ka), and a tide-dominated estuary (13-8 ka), to a shallow marine (after 8 ka). The paleo-Yangtze estuary displays inner section dominated by muddy heterolithic deposition and the outer section occupied by mud-rich tidal bars and channels, distinctly differing from the well-down small estuaries with sand predominance. A fining-upward facies succession was produced by migration of mud-rich tidal bars in response to post-glacial sea-level rise. These bars are potentially the predecessor of tidal sand ridges on the East China Sea shelf after they were progressively abandoned during the post-glacial sea-level rise and exposed to tidal and storm-wave reworking. This is the first facies model developed from a sediment-rich tide-dominated estuary. This study provides a best example to study evolution of tide-dominated mega-river systems in response to the post-glacial transgression.