Seasonal variations in the surficial sediment grain size in the East China Sea continental shelf and their implications for terrigenous sediment transport

Abstract

This study discusses the seasonal variations in surficial sediment grain size and their implications for sediment transport driven by the hydrodynamics in the East China Sea, based on grain size analysis of surficial sediments and salinity data collected from the East China Sea continental shelf during two cruises in 2011. The results show that the grain size distribution on the East China Sea continental shelf presents apparent spatial and seasonal variations. The mud area exhibits more variation than the sand area, which indicates that the sediment supply is the main factor controlling the surficial sediment grain size distribution on the East China Sea continental shelf. The grain size near the Yangtze River Estuary is relatively coarse in summer, because of the inherited characteristics from the previous winter, whereas it is much finer in autumn, due to the input of fine-grained materials during the flood period of the Yangtze River. A high fine-grained sediment concentration was found along the Zhejiang-Fujian coast in autumn when the Zhejiang-Fujian Coastal Current forms. The sediments in the northeast of the study region (the mud patch southwest of Cheju Island) are much coarser, and the fine-grained area is narrower in autumn than in summer because of seasonal variations in the Yellow Sea Coastal Current and the frequency of storms. Simultaneously, the tongue-shaped fine-grained cross shelf front located along the Zhejiang-Fujian coast occurs farther to the south in autumn than in summer. However, the surficial grain size distribution patterns on the middle and outer shelf are similar in the two seasons.