Characterizing the depositional settings for sedimentary organic matter distributions in the Lower Yangtze River-East China Sea Shelf System |
| |
| Authors: | Chun Zhu Zhang-Hua Wang Bin Xue Pei-Song Yu Jian-Ming Pan Thomas Wagner Richard D Pancost |
| |
| Institution: | 1. Organic Geochemistry Unit, Bristol Biogeochemistry Research Centre, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TS, UK;2. State Key Laboratory for Estuarine and Coastal Science Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China;3. Second Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Hangzhou, 310012, P. R. China;4. School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK |
| |
| Abstract: | Grain-size distributions, total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) concentrations, and TOC/TN ratios (C/N) were analysed for surface sediments from the Lower Yangtze River-East China Sea (ECS) shelf system. Hierarchical cluster analysis of grain-size parameters (mode, mean, sorting, skewness and kurtosis) has been employed to characterize grain-size compositions. The results suggest there are five grain-size compositional types (type-I–V) that fingerprint distinct depositional conditions. In areas with high sedimentation rates, hydrological sorting preferentially enriches the fraction coarser than 6.4ø (12 μm) in shallow seafloor sediments (water depth<30 m) by transporting the finer fraction to the deeper seafloor (water depth>30 m), and thus forms grain-size compositional type-I (shallow) and type-II (deep). In the open shelf, where modern sediment supply is very limited, grain-size types-III–V are identified according to different winnowing intensity. Overall TOC contents significantly correlate with mud proportions, suggesting muddy sediments are the primary control on OM accumulation. However, de-association of terrestrial OM from fine sediments in the Estuary and the occurrence of presumably relict OM in the open shelf exert additional controls on OM dispersal and carbon cycling in the ECS. By considering geography, oceanography, sediment source, and the relation between sedimentation conditions and sedimentary OM distributions, we define six depositional settings: the lower river, the estuary, the coast, the offshore upwelling area, the erosional area, and the open shelf. These settings describe the sediment dispersal and associated organic matter cycling in the Lower Yangtze River-ECS shelf system. |
| |
| Keywords: | grain-size sedimentary organic matter East China Sea Yangtze River depositional setting |
| 本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录！ |
|
