Distribution characteristics of magnetic susceptibility of the surface sediments in the southern Yellow Sea

Abstract

The characteristic distributions of magnetic susceptibility (MS) are analyzed on the basis of susceptibility of 172 surface sediment samples in the southern Yellow Sea (SYS). The preliminary results are as follows: first, the distributions clearly correspond to different modern sediment assemblages in the continental sea, which indicates different sediment origins. With the 30 μCGS isoline being taken as demarcation line, the study area can then be divided into section H (high MS value area) and section L (low MS value area). Section H is mainly adjacent to land with two main sources of the Changjiang River and the Huanghe River. Section L is mainly an eddy sediment area, where Yellow Sea Cold Water is entrenched all the year round. The distribution pattern of MS could tell apart strong or weak hydrodynamic conditions and has a close relation to the circulation system in this area. At the areas of the SYS Circumfluent and northern East China Sea (NECS) Circumfluent (weak hydrodynamic), the MS has low values, while in the areas of Coastal Current (strong hydrodynamic), the values are high. At the same time, the oxidizing areas tend to take on higher MS, while the reducing areas have lower one. It seems safe to say that the MS in the continental sea reflects more of the sediment origin and sedimentary environment, which is different from that of loess, lake and surface soil as a climate proxy.