Abstract
Large amounts of sediments originating from the Changjiang (Yangtze) River are deposited in the subaqueous delta and in the adjacent muddy area off the mouth and on the inner shelf of the East China Sea. The terrestrial sediments deposited in these areas not only contain information about the composition and environment of the source area, but they also record changes in anthropogenic activities. A sediment piston core (CJ0702) was extracted from the Changjiang subaqueous depocenter (31.00°N, 122.67°E) in a water depth of 22.0 m. The core was subsampled at 1–2 cm intervals and analyzed for grain size, clay mineralogy, and major element geochemistry. Results indicate a relatively high sediment accumulation rate of approximately 3.11 cmyr−1. These parameters exhibited only minor cyclical fluctuations in the core, which resulted from many factors. During the past 120 years, the Changjiang River-derived sediment is the primary source of sediment in the offshore mud area without evidence for the Yellow River-derived sediment increasing. After the trunk stream shifted from the North Branch to South Branch, the variations of proxies are controlled by the periodic fluctuation possibly linked to El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). In addition, anthropogenic heavy metal concentrations can be divided into three stages, which coincide well with economic development and environmental protection policies.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Berger, W. H., 2013. Milankovitch tuning of deep-sea records: Implications for maximum rates of change of sea level. Global Planet Change, 101: 131–143.
Biscaye, P. E., 1965. Mineralogy and sedimentation of recent deep-sea clay in the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas and oceans. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 76: 803–832.
Chen, B., Fan, D. J., Li, W. R., Wang, L., Zhang, X. L., Liu, M., and Guo, Z. G., 2014. Enrichment of heavy metals in the inner shelf mud of the East China Sea and its indication of human activity. Continental Shelf Research, 90: 163–169.
Chen, Z., Saito, Y., Hori, K., Zhao, Y., and Kitamura, A., 2003. Early Holocene mud-ridge formation in the Yangtze offshore, China: A tidal-controlled estuarine pattern and sea-level implications. Marine Geology, 198 (3–4): 245–257.
Davies, B. J., Hambrey, M. J., Smellie, J. L., Carrivick, J. L., and Glasser, N. F., 2012. Antarctic Peninsula ice sheet evolution during the Cenozoic era. Quaternary Science Review, 31: 30–66.
DeMaster, D. J., McKee, B. A., Nittrouer, C. A., Qian, J. C., and Cheng, G. D., 1985. Rates of sediment accumulation and particle reworking based on radiochemical measurements from continental shelf deposits in the East China Sea. Continental Shelf Research, 4: 143–158.
Fan, D. J., Qi, H. Y., Sun, X. X., Liu, Y., and Yang, Z. S., 2011. Annual lamination and its sedimentary implications in the Yangtze River Delta inferred from high-resolution biogenic silica and sensitive grain-size records. Continental Shelf Research, 31: 129–137.
Fan, D. J., Yang, Z. S., Mao, D., and Guo, Z. G., 2001. Clay minerals and geochemistry of the sediments from the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers. Marine Geology & Quaternary Geology, 21 (4): 7–12 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Gao, S., 2013. Holocene shelf-coastal sedimentary systems associated with the Changjiang River: An overview. Acta Oceanolgia Sinica, 32 (12): 4–12.
Gao, S., and Collins, M. B., 2014. Holocene sedimentary systems on continental shelves. Marine Geology, 352: 268–294.
Gao, S., and Wang, Y. P., 2008. Changes in material fluxes from the Changjiang River and their implications on the adjoining continental shelf ecosystem. Continental Shelf Research, 28: 1490–1500.
Goldberg, E. D., 1963. Geochronology with 210Pb: Radioactive dating. Conference Proceedings, November 19–23, 1962, Athens. Vienna, 121–131.
Hao, Y. C., Guo, Z. G., Yang, Z. S., Fan, D. J., Fang, M., and Li, X. D., 2008. Tracking historical lead pollution in the coastal area adjacent to the Yangtze River Estuary using lead isotopic compositions. Environmental Pollution, 156: 1325–1331.
Hohndorf, A., 1969. Bestimmung der Halbwertszeit von 210Pb. Zeitschrift für Naturforschung, 24A: 612–615.
Hori, K., Saito, Y., Zhao, Q. H., Cheng, X. R., Wang, P. X., Sato, Y., and Li, C. X., 2001. Sedimentary facies and Holocene progradation rates of the Changjiang (Yangtze) Delta, China. Geomorphology, 41: 233–248.
Hori, K., Saito, Y., Zhao, Q. H., and Wang, P. X., 2002. Architecture and evolution of the tide-dominated Changjiang (Yangtze) River Delta, China. Sedimentary Geology, 146 (3–4): 249–264.
Hu, D. X., Saito, Y., and Kempe, S., 1998. Sediment and nutrient transport to the coastal zone. In: Asian Change in the Context of Global Climate Change: Impact of Natural and Anthropogenic Changes in Asia on Global Biogeochemical Cycles. IGBP Book Series 3. Galloway, J. N., and Melillo, J. M., eds., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 245–270.
Hu, G., 2014. Sedimentation in the offshore area of Changjiang River Estuary and its responses to the environmental changes during the past century. PhD thesis. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Hu, G., Li, A. C., Liu, J., Xu, G., Mei, X., and Kong, X. H., 2014. High resolution records of flood deposition in the mud area off the Changjiang River Mouth during the past century. Chinese Journal of Oceanology and Limnology, 32 (4): 909–920.
Huang, R. H., and Wu, Y. F., 1989. The influence of ENSO on the summer climate change in China and its mechanism. Advance in Atmosphere Science, 6: 21–32.
Huang, H. J., Li, F., and Zhang, X. R., 2001. Water and sediment discharges from the Changjiang and Huanghe Rivers: A comparative study. In: Land-Ocean Interaction in the Estuaries of the Changjiang and Pearl River and the Adjoining Regions. Hu, D. X., et al., eds., China Ocean Press, Beijing, 3649.
Hulse, P., and Bentley, S. J., 2012. A 210Pb sediment budget and granulometric record of sediment fluxes in a subarctic deltaic system: The Great Whale River, Canada. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 109: 41–52.
Li, T. G., Jiang, B., Sun, R. T., Zhang, D. Y., Liu, Z. X., and Li, Q., 2007. Evolution pattern of warm current system of eastern Yellow Sea since the last deglaciation. Quaternary Science, 27 (6): 945–954 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Li, Y. F., 1991. The development of the abandoned Yellow River Delta. Geographical Research, 10 (4): 29–39 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Lim, D. I., Choi, J. Y., Jung, H. S., Rho, K. C., and Ahn, K. S., 2007. Recent sediment accumulation and origin of shelf mud deposits in the Yellow and East China Seas. Progress in Oceanography, 73: 145–159.
Lin, S. W., Hsieh, I. J., Huang, K. M., and Wang, C. H., 2002. Influence of the Yangtze River and grainsize on the spatial variations of heavy metals and organic carbon in the East China Sea continental shelf sediment. Chemical Geology, 182: 377–394.
Liu, J., Li, S. Q., Wang, S. J., Yang, Z. G., Ge, Z. S., and Chang, J. H., 1999. Sea level changes of the Yellow Sea and formation of the Yellow Sea Warm Current since the last deglaciation. Marine Geology & Quaternary Geology, 19 (1): 13–24 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Liu, J., Saito, Y., Kong, X. H., Wang, H., and Zhao, L., 2009a. Geochemical characteristics of sediment as indicators of postglacial environmental changes off the Shandong Peninsula in the Yellow Sea. Continental Shelf Research, 29: 846–855.
Liu, J., Saito, Y., Kong, X. H., Wang, H., Wen, C., and Yang, Z. G., 2010. Sedimentary record of environmental evolution off the Yangtze River Estuary, East China Sea, during the last 13,000 years, with special reference to the influence of the Yellow River on the Yangtze River Delta during the last 600 years. Quaternary Science Review, 29: 2424–2438.
Liu, J. P., Li, A. C., Xu, K. H., Veolzzi, D. M., Yang, Z. S., Milliman, J. D., and DeMaster, D. J., 2006. Sedimentary features of the Yangtze River-derived along-shelf clinoform deposit in the East China Sea. Continental Shelf Research, 26: 2141–2156.
Liu, J. P., Xu, K. H., Li, A. C., Milliman, J. D., Velozzi, D. M., Xiao, S. B., and Yang, Z. S., 2007. Flux and fate of Yangtze River sediment delivered to the East China Sea. Geomorphology, 85: 208–224.
Liu, J. P., Xue, Z., Ross, K., Wang, H. J., Yang, Z. S., Li, A. C., and Gao, S., 2009b. Fate of sediments delivered to the sea by Asian large rivers: Long-distance transport and formation of remote alongshore clinothems. The Sedimentary Record, 7 (4): 4–9.
Liu, M., and Fan, D. J., 2011. Geochemical records in the subaqueous Yangtze River Delta and their responses to human activities in the past 60 years. Chinese Science Bulletin, 56: 552–561.
Liu, S. F., Shi, X. F., Liu, Y. G., Wu, Y. H., Yang, G., and Wang, X. C., 2013. Holocene paleoclimatic reconstruction based on mud deposits on the inner shelf of the East China Sea. Journal of Asian Earth Science, 69: 113–120.
McLennan, S. M., 1993. Weathering and global denudation. Journal of Geology, 101 (2): 295–303.
Milliman, J. D., and Meade, R. H., 1983. World-wide delivery of river sediment to the oceans. Journal of Geology, 91: 1–21.
Milliman, J. D., Beardsley, R. C., Yang, Z. S., and Limeburner, R., 1985a. Modern Huanghe-derived muds on the outer shelf of the East China Sea. Continental Shelf Research, 4: 175–188.
Milliman, J. D., and Farnsworth, K. L., 2011. River Discharge to the Coastal Ocean: A Global Synthesis. Cambridge University Press, New York, 1–384.
Milliman, J. D., Shen, H. T., and Yang, Z. S., 1985b. Transport and deposition of river sediment in the Changjiang Estuary and adjacent shelf. Continental Shelf Research, 4: 37–45.
Orpin, A. R., Carter, L., Page, M. J., Cochran, U. A., Trustrum, N. A., Gomez, B., Palmer, A. S., Mildenhall, D. C., Rogers, K. M., Brackley, H. L., and Northcote, L., 2010. Holocene sedimentary record from Lake Tutira: A template for upland watershed erosion proximal to the Waipaoa sedimentary system, northeastern New Zealand. Marine Geology, 270: 11–29.
Pang, C. G., Li, K., and Hu, D. X., 2016. Net accumulation of suspended sediment and its seasonal variability dominated by shelf circulation in the Yellow and East China Seas. Marine Geology, 371: 33–43.
Petley, D. N., 2010. The continental shelf and continental slope. In: Sediment Cascades: An Integrated Approach. Burt, T., and Allison, R., eds., Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, 433–448.
Qiao, S. Q., Shi, X. F., Wang, G. Q., Zhou, L., Hu, B. Q., Hu, L. M., Yang, G., Liu, Y. G., Yao, Z. Q., and Liu, S. F., 2017. Sediment accumulation and budget in the Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea and East China Sea. Marine Geology, 390: 270–281.
Qiao, S. Q., Yang, Z. S., and Liu, J. P., 2011. Records of late-Holocene East Asian winter monsoon in the East China Sea: Key grain-size component of quartz versus bulk sediments. Quaternary International, 230: 106–114.
Ren, F. M., Yuan, Y., Sun, C. H., and Cao, L., 2012. Review of progress of ENSO studies in the past three decades. Advances in Meteorology and Technology, 2 (3): 17–24 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Stanley, D. J., and Chen, Z., 1993. Yangtze Delta, eastern China: 1: Geometry and subsidence of Holocene depocenter. Marine Geology, 112: 1–11.
Sun, X. G., Fang, M., and Huang, W., 2000. Spatial and temporal variations in suspended particulate matter transport on the Yellow and East China Sea shelf. Oceanologia et Limnologia Sinica, 31 (6): 581–587.
Thamban, M., Rao, V. P., and Schneider, R. R., 2002. Reconstruction of late Quaternary monsoon oscillations based on clay mineral proxies using sediment cores from the western margin of India. Marine Geology, 186: 527–539.
Thevenon, F., Guedron, S., Chiaradia, M., Loizeau, J. L., and Pote, J., 2011. Historic changes in natural and anthropogenic heavy metals deposition inferred from two contrasting Swiss Alpine lakes. Quaternary Science Review, 30: 224–233.
Wang, S. W., and Gong, D. Y., 1999. ENSO events and their intensity during the past century. Meteorological Monthly, 25 (1): 9–14 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Wang, X., Shi, X. F., Liu, S. F., Wang, G. Q., Qiao, S. Q., Zhu, A. M., and Gao, J. J., 2012. High-resolution sedimentary record within a hundred years on the mud area near the Changjiang Estuary and discussion of its impacting factors. Acta Sedimentologica Sinica, 30 (1): 148–157 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Wang, Z. H., Saito, Y., Hori, K., and Chen, Z. Y., 2005. Yangtze offshore, China: Highly laminated sediments from the transition zone between subaqueous delta and the continental shelf. Estuary Coast and Shelf Science, 62 (1–2): 161–168.
Xia, N., Zhang, Q., Yao, D., and Li, G. H., 2008. Geochemical analysis of marine sediments using fused glass disc by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. Chinese Journal of Oceanology and Limnology, 26 (4): 475–479.
Xiao, S. B., Li, A. C., Jiang, F. Q., Li, T. G., Huang, P., and Xu, Z. K., 2004. Sedimentary records and its climatic implications of mud along the Min-Zhe Coast since 2 ka BP. Chinese Science Bulletin, 49 (21): 2233–2238 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Xiao, S. B., Li, A. C., Jiang, F. Q., You, Z., and Chen, L., 2005. Provenance analysis of mud along the Min-Zhe Coast since 2 ka BP. Acta Sedimentologica Sinica, 23 (2): 268–274 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Xiao, S. B., Li, A. C., Liu, W. G., Zhao, J. C., and Xu, F. J., 2009. Provenance analysis of muddy sediments along the Min-Zhe Coast. Progress in Natural Science, 19 (2): 185–191 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Xiang, R., Yang, Z. S., Saito, Y., Fan, D. J., Chen, M. H., Guo, Z. G., and Chen, Z., 2008. Paleoenvironmental changes during the last 8400 years in the southern Yellow Sea: Benthic foraminiferal and stable isotopic evidence. Marine Micropaleontology, 67: 104–119.
Yang, X. Q., Zhu, Y. M., Xie, Q., Ren, X. J., and Xu, G. Y., 2004. Advances in studies of Pacific Decadal Oscillation. Chinese Journal of Atmospheric Sciences, 28 (6): 979–992 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Yang, Z. S., and Chen, X. H., 2007. Centurial high resolution records of sediment grain-size variation in the mud area off the Changjiang (the Yangtze River) Estuary and its influential factors. Quaternary Science, 27 (5): 690–699.
Yang, Z. S., Lei, K., and Guo, Z. G., 2007. Effect of a winter storm sediment transport and resuspension in the distal mud area, the East China Sea. Journal of Coastal Research, 23 (2): 310–318.
Ye, Q. C., 1986. On the development of the abandoned Yellow River Delta in northern Jiangsu Province. Acta Geographica Sinica, 41 (2): 112–122 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Yu, K. F., Zhao, J. X., Shi, Q., Chen, T. G., Wang, P. X., Collerson, K. D., and Liu, T. S., 2006. U-series dating of dead Porites corals in the South China Sea: Evidence for episodic coral mortality over the past two centuries. Quaternary Geochronology, 1: 129–141.
Yu, Z. Y., Chen, D. C., and Jin, L., 1986. The formation and erosion of the old Huanghe River submarine delta in the northern part of Jiangsu beach. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 8 (2): 197–206 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Zhang, R. S., 1984. Land-forming history of the Huanghe River Delta and coastal plain of northern Jiangsu. Acta Geographica Sinica, 39 (2): 173–184 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Zhao, Y. Y., and Yan, M. C., 1994. Geochemistry of Sediments in Chinese Shallow Sea. Science Press, Beijing, 1–174.
Zhou, L. T., Tam, C. Y., Zhou, W., and Chan, J. C. L., 2009. Influence of South China Sea SST and the ENSO on winter rainfall over South China. Advances in Atmosphere Science, 27: 832–844.
Acknowledgements
This study was jointly funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41676052 and 41206 073), the State Scholarship Fund sponsored by China Scholarship Council (No. 201609370007), and the China Geological Survey (Nos. DD20190236, DD20160137, and DD20190205). We are grateful to those who took part in sampling, testing and photography, including Mr. Hongbo Ren and Mr. Zhigang Zhu from the Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, and Drs. Jiaze Wang, Xufeng Zheng, and Jiang Dong from the Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cong, J., Hu, G., Jonell, T.N. et al. Centurial Evolution of an Offshore Mud Deposition Area in the Changjiang (Yangtze) Estuary and Its Links to Environmental and Anthropogenic Activities. J. Ocean Univ. China 19, 790–800 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11802-020-4171-4
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11802-020-4171-4