Abstract
Identification of natural and anthropogenic events in the past is important for studying their patterns and mechanisms; and sensitive proxies in marine sediments are more reliable for identifying these events than those in terrestrial sediments, which are usually disturbed by human activities. Since the main source materials for the sediments in the Northern Yellow Sea Mud are transported by the Yellow River, sedimentary characteristics can be used to reconstruct the historical events that occurred in the Yellow River Valley. In the present study, by analyzing sorting coefficient of grain size in a 250-year sediment core from the Northern Yellow Sea Mud, we identified several major historical events: the Haiyuan Earthquake in AD 1920 and several times of relocation of the Yellow River estuary. The proxy has the potential of detecting and reconstructing historical events; in combination with historical archives, they also provide an accurate dating method.
Highlights
Identification of natural and anthropogenic events in the past is important for studying their patterns and mechanisms; and sensitive proxies in marine sediments are more reliable for identifying these events than those in terrestrial sediments, which are usually disturbed by human activities
Grain size of these sediments has been widely used as paleoclimate proxies [2,3]; the historical events recorded in these sediments have attracted much less interests
The sediment core was divided at 0.5 cm intervals to collect 68 subsamples, which were analyzed for magnetic susceptibility, grain size, and levels of Si and Al
Summary
In China’s Near Sea, suspended fine-grained materials are carried by rivers and deposited on the inner shelves to form the mud sediments [1]. Grain size of these sediments is subject to the influence of natural and anthropogenic events in the relevant regions and sensitive to various climatic factors. A coarse sand layer found in the muddy sediments is a good indication of storm surge [2] Grain size of these sediments has been widely used as paleoclimate proxies [2,3]; the historical events recorded in these sediments have attracted much less interests. No systematic analysis has been performed to identify these events by using sedimentary proxy
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