Identification of Yangtze River and Yellow River Paleochannels in South Yellow Sea Shelf

Abstract

research of submarine paleochannels has not only a great significance in exploring the evolution of palaeoenvironment of continental shelf but also a practical application value in solving problems on disaster geology and environmental geology in the continental shelf development. Yellow River and Yangtze River both were concentrated in the northern Jiangsu to enter the South Yellow Sea Basin in the Last Glacial, playing an important role in the palaeoenvironment evolution of the South Yellow Sea. On the basis of integrating previous research results and researching a large number of shallow stratigraphic sections of paleochannels in the South Yellow Sea Shelf in detail, identification and research of Yangtze River and Yellow River paleochannels in the South Yellow Sea Shelf are carried out in this paper. Research results show that: the Yangtze River and Yellow River paleochannels in the South Yellow Sea continental shelf are significantly different in the river section, river pattern, major elements, as well as trace elements, clay minerals, carbonate content and heavy mineral assemblages in the river sediments and other aspects. These differences can be used as the evidence for identification of the Yangtze River and Yellow River paleochannels.