Geochemistry Characteristics of Sediment and Provenance Relations of Sediments in Core NT1 of the South Yellow Sea

Abstract

The contribution of substance from Yellow River, Yangtze River, and Korean rivers to the sedimentation of Yellow Sea is studied through geochemical analysis and through characterization of the source of the substance about sediment from Core NT1 among the lutaceous area in Central South Yellow Sea. The research finds out that the sediment in Core NT1 mainly comes from Yangtze River and Yellow River, the sediment between 0–7.70 m in upper Core NT1 mainly belongs to Yangtze River source; the sediments between 7.70-16.60 m and 42.0–54.80 m in middle Core NT1 are mainly from Yellow River, the 26 m thick sediment interlayer in it mainly comes from Yangtze River; and the sediment between 54.80–69.76 m in the bottom of Core NT1 is mainly from Yangtze River. The results demonstrate that Yangtze River has been playing a main role in the lutaceous area in the Central South Yellow Sea since early Late Pleistocene, and Yellow River started to influence the continental sedimentation of Yellow Sea from early Warm Glaciation of late Late Pleistocene.