EVOLUTION OF SEDIMENTARY FACIES AND PALEOENVIRONMENT DURING THE LATE QUATERNARY IN WANQINGSHA AREA OF THE PEARL RIVER DELTA

Abstract

Through the comprehensive analysis on chronostratigraphy,sedimentology,and paleoenvironment of core GZ-2 in Wanqingsha area of the Pearl River delta,it is suggested that the Holocene sedimentation began from the depth of -15.37 m (about 6 kaBP),and strata below this level to the depth of -40.35 m belong to middle-late late Pleistocene with a maximum dating value around 43 kaBP,contemporaneous with the earliest deposit in the Pearl River delta. In the profile,two cycles of transgression-regression can be recognized:the middle-late late Pleistocene(consisting of 4 sub-cycles ) and the Holocene(consisting of 2 sub-cycles). It still has,in this area,fluvial-lake deposition facies during the lower sea level period of the Last Glaciation. The reconsruction of relative sea-level change curve of the Pearl River delta based on the multi-proxy index analysis indicates that the highest sea level period of the middle-late late Pleistocene was around 26～24 kaBP,and that of the Holocene was around 6～2.5 kaBP. The late Quaternary paleoenvironment evolution in the Pearl River delta was obviously controlled by global paleoenvironment changes.