Along‐strike variability in shelf‐margin morphology and accretion pattern: An example from the northern margin of the South China Sea

Interplays among diachronous tectonism, uneven sediment supply, and local marine hydraulic processes make the northern margin of the South China Sea (SCS) an ideal location to investigate the complexity of along‐strike variability in shelf margins. This study examines shelf‐margin morphology, stratigraphy, and sedimentation from the northern SCS using multichannel seismic reflection profiles complemented with the data from commercial and ocean drilling sites. Analysis of seismic reflection profiles reveals three categories of shelf‐margin cross‐sectional profiles, the concave‐up, linear, and sigmoidal, according to which five margin sectors were recognized. Results show that these margin segments differ in relief, shelf‐edge trajectory, submarine canyon development, and long‐term accretion pattern. The westernmost margin sector, or the Yinggehai (YGH)‐western Qiongdongnan (QDN) margin, has appeared to be supply dominated since its commencement at ca. 10.5 Ma, which is characterized by well‐developed prograding clinoforms, low‐angle shelf‐edge trajectories, and an absence of canyons. Presence of concave‐up profiles is also suggestive of high sediment influx. In contrast, the eastern QDN margin was primarily regulated by local subsidence and faulting, leading to a stationary shelf‐edge migrating pattern and linear upper‐slope morphology. Densely distributed slope‐confined gullies indicate the margin’s disequilibrium and erosive nature. Further east, the Pearl River Mouth (PRM) margin formed much earlier (ca. 30 Ma) and experienced a more complicated accretion history, including three phases which were dominated by sequential marginal faulting (before ca. 30 Ma), basement structure (ca. 30–23 Ma), and sediment supply (ca. 23 Ma to the present). The overall sigmoidal morphology and truncated stratigraphy of this margin probably resulted from the sculpting of local marine processes, especially ocean currents and internal waves. The exception of the central PRM margin where concave‐up profiles develop is mainly related to canyon erosion. Overall, this study highlights the vital role of local forcing factors in controlling along‐margin variations and determining the final fates of different margin segments. A comparison between the northern SCS and other well‐established examples reveals that concave‐upward shelf‐margin shapes, which are usually associated with high sediment supply, little influence from hydraulic regimes, or sometimes, high degree of canyon development, may be an indicator of good reservoir potential beyond the shelf edge.     

Threshold sediment flux for the formation of river deltas in Hainan Island,southern China

Journal of Geographical Sciences - The knowledge of geomorphological evolution from an estuary to a river delta is necessary to form the formulation of comprehensive land-ocean interaction...     

Climatic influences on streamflow and sediment flux into Lake C2, northern Ellesmere Island, Canada

Streamflow, suspended sediment transport and meteorological variables at two elevations were measured through the 1990–1992 field seasons at Lake C2, Northern Ellesmere Island, as part of the Taconite Inlet Lakes Project. The objectives were to determine the extent to which suspended sediment flux responded to climatic variability, and to ascertain which meteorological variable was most strongly associated with daily discharge and sediment load. This study provided a partial test of our hypothesis that the annually-laminated sediments of Lake C2 contain a paleoclimate signal. Streamflow to the lake was almost exclusively the result of snowmelt, in response to inputs of atmospheric energy as measured by air temperature at the median watershed elevation (520 m). Sea-level air temperature, global solar and net all-wave irradiance were less clearly associated with discharge. Fluctuations of discharge and suspended sediment concentration were nearly synchronous, and non-linearly related. Daily sediment discharge was therefore linked by streamflow, with a time lag, to the energy available for snowmelt. Mean daily air temperature and cumulative degree-days above 0 °C, at 520 m elevation, were successfully used to predict the daily and seasonal discharge of runoff and sediment to the lake.This is the third in a series of papers published in this issue on the Taconite Inlet Lakes Project. These papers were collected by Dr R. S. Bradley.     

南海北部大陆架残留风成沙与海岸带古风成沙的对比及关系研究

广泛分布于南海北部大陆架的残留风成沙,在形态、粒度、石英沙粒表面微结构、矿物组成及浅地层剖面等方面总体上具备风成沉积特征。同时,南海北部沙质海岸多处发育的晚更新世古风成沙,在粒度、沉积构造与结构等方面亦有明显的风成沉积特征。二者构成的风沙地貌体发育具有同期性、形态有相似性、空间分布有大陆架向海岸带延伸的连续性。由此表明,南海北部大陆架与毗邻沙质海岸的沙源有同源性,沉积环境有类比性。据此可以认为,南海北部大陆架残留风成沙与海岸带古风成沙为近源沉积成因系列,二者为同期同相连续性沉积。     

Sedimentological, geochemical and palaeontological evidence for a neoglacial cold event during the late Holocene in the continental shelf of the northern South Shetland Islands, West Antarctica

Two sediment cores obtained from the continental shelf of the northern South Shetland Islands, West Antarctica, consist of: an upper unit of silty mud, bioturbated by a sluggish current, and a lower unit of well-sorted, laminated silty mud, attributed to an intensified Polar Slope Current. Geochemical and accelerator mass spectrometry ¹⁴C analyses yielded evidence for a late Holocene increase in sea-ice extent and a decrease in phytoplankton productivity, inferred from a reduction in the total organic carbon content and higher C : N ratios, at approximately 330 years B.P., corresponding to the Little Ice Age. Prior to this, the shelf experienced warmer marine conditions, with greater phytoplankton productivity, inferred from a higher organic carbon content and C : N ratios in the lower unit. The reduced abundance of Weddell Sea ice-edge bloom species ( Chaetoceros resting spores, Fragilariopsis curta and Fragilariopsis cylindrus ) and stratified cold-water species ( Rhizosolenia antennata ) in the upper unit was largely caused by the colder climate. During the cold period, the glacial restriction between the Weddell Sea and the shelf of the northern South Shetland Islands apparently hindered the influx of ice-edge bloom species from the Weddell Sea into the core site. The relative increases in the abundance of Actinocyclus actinochilus and Navicula glaciei , indigenous to the coastal zone of the South Shetland Islands, probably reflects a reduction in the dilution of native species, resulting from the diminished influx of the ice-edge species from the Weddell Sea. We also document the recent reduction of sea-ice cover in the study area in response to recent warming along the Antarctic Peninsula.     

塔里木盆地南缘沉积物磁化率、δ13C与粒度及其气候环境意义

本文研究表明,塔里木盆地南缘湖沼相沉积物质量磁化率与碳酸盐δ¹³C呈正相关关系,与粒度参数中056～3557μm各组分呈显著负相关,其中同1783～3170μm部分负相关性最为显著;与5637～2244μm之间各组分显著正相关,其中与7096～200μm各组分正相关性最为显著。其气候环境背景与意义表现为:在寒冷期中,δ¹³C偏轻,相对湿度和植被盖度增加,地表侵蚀减弱,只有较细物质才能向湖泊沼泽搬运加积,地表氧化环境减弱,磁化率减小;而在温暖期中,则相反。在区域对比基础上,根据上述指标将近40ka以来此地区气候环境变化划分了8个阶段。本文的各种指标（特别是粒度指标）与GreenlandGISP2冰芯δ¹⁸O记录之间有很好的吻合,表明研究区近40ka以来的气候与环境变化可能具有全球背景。     

Upslope-climbing shelf-edge clinoforms and the stepwise evolution of the northern European glaciation (lower Pleistocene Eridanos Delta system,U.K. North Sea): When sediment supply overwhelms accommodation

Clinoforms are basinward-dipping and accreting palaeo-bathymetric profiles that record palaeo-environmental conditions and processes; thus, clinothems represent natural palaeo-archives. Here, we document shelf-edge scale clinoform sets which prograded through the entire width of an epicontinental marine basin (ca. 400 km), eventually encroaching onto the opposite basin flank, where they started to prograde upslope and landward, in defiance of gravity (“upslope-climbing clinoforms”). The giant westward-prograding Eridanos muddy shelf-edge clinothem originated from the Baltic hinterland in the Oligocene and achieved maximum regression in the Early Pleistocene, on the UK Central Graben (CG) and Mid North Sea High (MNSH), after crossing the whole North Sea mesopelagic depocentre and causing near complete basin infill. Here we integrate well and seismic data through the MNSH and CG and examine the Eridanos final heyday and demise, identifying five clinothem complexes (A1, A2, A3, B and C) and six depositional sequence boundaries (SB1 to SB6) in the Miocene-Recent section. Tectonic and climatic events drove the recent evolution of this system. Early Pleistocene climate cooling, in particular, resulted in a stepwise increase in sediment supply. This climaxed in the earliest Calabrian, following a likely Eburonian eustatic fall (=SB3) when the Eridanos clastic wedge was restructured from a 100–300 m thick compound shelf-edge and delta system to a “hybrid” shelf-edge delta at sequence boundary SB3 (ca. 1.75 Ma). In the ca. 40 kyr that followed SB3, a progradation rate peak (>1,000 m/kyr) is associated with clinoforms starting to accrete upslope, onto the east-dipping slope between CG and MNSH. This “upslope-climbing clinoform” phase was quickly followed by the maximum regression and final retreat of the Eridanos system in the Early Calabrian (=SB4), likely as the result of climate-driven changes in the Baltic hinterland and/or delta auto-retreat. To our knowledge, this contributions represents the first documentation of “upslope-climbing clinoforms” recorded in the stratigraphic record.