Neo-tectonic Movement in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) Region of China and Its Effects on the Coastal Sedimentary Environment

Abstract

This chapter presents the Late Quaternary neo-tectonic movement in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region of China and its effects on the coastal sedimentary environment. Taking the Xilin Hill fault as the example, we have explained the reason of the PRD formation, inferred its interactions with local/regional climate and sea-level changes, and analyzed the evolution of the PRD formation and its controlling fac‐ tors of the coastal sedimentary environment. Since Late Quaternary, the intense change of coastal sedimentary environment in the PRD region has resulted in accumulating the thick sedimentary layers with the different causes and properties which were influenced by the fluctuation of sea lev‐ els, the change of ancient climate, and human activities. Based on the interpretation of high resolution of these sediments, such as the period, sedimentary facies, and discontinuous facies, we can infer the evolution of the ancient climate of regional Quaternary environment in the background of global change to know more details about the formation of the PRD. It is noted that the neo-tectonic movement and the fault activities played a critical role in controlling the coastal geological environ‐ ment. This is helpful to further investigate the evolution of the PRD coastal sedi‐ mentary environment, the history of the inversion region, and the sedimentary facies model of the interaction between land and sea. More investigations will be conducted in the near future.