Clay minerals in the major Chinese coastal estuaries and their provenance implications

Abstract

A sea-survey was carried out along the Chinese coast from the Bohai Sea to South China Sea, and 15 surficial samples were taken from major coastal estuaries, i.e., from north to south, the Yellow, abandoned Yellow, Yangtze, Qiantang, Ou, Min, Han, and Pearl River estuaries. On the basis of clay mineral analysis and published data collection, this paper discusses the characteristics of clay minerals of each coastal river and potentials of implications of sediment sources. The results show that the change of diagnostic clay minerals from smectite to kaolinite from the Yellow to the Pearl River estuaries is southward, as clearly shown by the ratios of smectite to chlorite (S/Ch) and kaolinite to illite (K/I). S/Ch decreases southward, while K/I moves reversely, implying change in climate setting from cool/dry to humid/hot with intensified weathering processes. Besides, these two indicators in the estuaries are also linked with the derivation of parent-rock of each river-basin and coastal hydrodynamics. The disproportional higher ratio of K/I in the Yellow and abandoned Yellow River estuaries is ascribed to their sediment sources with abundant loess component in the north-central China. The K/I decrease offshore from the Pearl River estuary is primarily due to hydrodynamic sorting. Therefore, the S/Ch and K/I of the present study comprehensively reflect the controls of climate, parent-rock, and sediment transport along the coast.

Keywords

climate setting / clay minerals / Chinese estuaries

References

[1] Biscaye P E, Grousset F E, Revel M, Vander G S, Zielinski G A, Vaars A, Kukla G (1997). Asian provenance of glacial dust (stage 2) in the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 Ice Core, Summit, Greenland. J Geophys Res, 102(26): 765–781

[2] Biscaye P E (1965). Mineralogy and sedimentation of recent deep sea clay in the Atlantic Sea and adjacent seas and oceans. Bulletin of the Geogical Society of America, 76(7): 803–832

[3] Boulay S, Colin C, Trentesaux A, Frank N, Liu Z (2005). Sediment sources and East Asian monsoon intensity over the last 450 ky: mineralogical and geochemical investigations on South China Sea sediments. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 228(3–4): 260–277

[4] Chen T, Wang H, Zhang Z Q, Wang H J (2003). The implication of clay mineral to Paleoenvironment. Acta Petrologica Et Mineralologica, 22(4): 416–420 (in Chinese)

[5] Chen Y T, Tan Z H (1991). Clay minerals in surface sediment of Lingdingyang Bay in the Pearl River mouth. Trop Geogr, 11(1): 39–43 (in Chinese)

[6] Chen Z, Li J, Shen H, Wang Z (2001). Yangtze River of China: historical analysis of discharge variability and sediment flux. Geomorphology, 41(2–3): 77–91

[7] Cheng T W, Zhao C N (1985). Runoff volumes and sediment discharges of large rivers in China and their influence on the coastal zone. Acta Oceanol Sin, 7(4): 460–471 (in Chinese)

[8] Colin C, Turpin L, Bertaux J, Desprairies A, Kissel C (1999). Erosional history of the Himalayanand Burman ranges during the last two glacial-interglacial cycles. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 171(4): 647–660

[9] Dunoyerde S G (1970). The transformation of clay minerals during diagenesis and low grade metamorphism: A review. Sedimentology, 15: 281–346

[10] Fan D J, Yang Z S, Mao D, Guo Z G (2001). Clay minerals and geochemistry of sediments from the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers. Marine Geology and Quaternary Geology, 21(4): 7–12 (in Chinese)

[11] Franz X G, Leipe T (1997). Clay mineral assemblages in the western Baltic Sea: recent distribution and relation to sedimentary units. Mar Geol, 140(1–2): 97–115

[12] Gingele F X, Deckker P D, Hillenbrand C D (2001). Clay mineral distribution in surface sediments between Indonesia and NW Australia- source and transport by ocean currents. Mar Geol, 179(3–4): 135–146

[13] Griffin J J, Windom H, Goldberg E D (1968). The distribution of clay minerals in the World Ocean. Deep Sea Research and Oceanographic Abstracts, 15(4): 433–459

[14] He L (1982). Distribution map of clay minerals in the Yellow River coast. Chin Sci Bull, (9): 554–556 (in Chinese)

[15] He L, Liu Q (1997). Chemical characteristics of clay minerals in the sediments from the Yellow River and the Changjiang River. Chin Sci Bull, 42(6): 488–492

[16] Huang S G (1993). Erision and accumulation in the adjacent area of the Taoerhe-with emphasis on erosion-accumulation of thr Yellow River delta after its shifted course. Oceanologia ET Limnologia Science, 24(3): 197–204 (in Chinese)

[17] Jain M, Tandon S K (2003). Quaternary alluvial stratigraphy and palaeoclimatic reconstruction at the Thar margin. Current Science, 84 (8): 1 048–1 055

[18] Keller W D (1970). Environmental aspects of clay minerals. J Sediment Petrol, 40: 788–859

[19] Lan X, Zhang X, Zhang Z (2005). Material sources and transportation of sediments in the southern Yellow Sea. Transactions of Oceanology and Limnology, (4): 53–60 (in Chinese)

[20] Liu Z, Colin C, Trentesaux A (2004). Erosional history of the eastern Tibetan Plateau since 190kyr ago: Clay mineralogical and geochemical investigations from the southwestern South China Sea. Mar Geol, 209(1–4): 1–18

[21] Liu Z, Colin C, Trentesaux A, Siani G, Frank N, Blamart D, Farid S (2005). Late Quaternary climatic control on erosion and weathering in the eastern Tibetan Plateau and the Mekong Basin. Quat Res, 63(3): 316–328

[22] Liu Z F, Colin C, Huang W, Chen Z, Trenteseuxa A, Chen J F (2007). Clay minerals in surface sediments of the Pearl River drainage basin and their contribution to the South China Sea. Chin Sci Bull, 52(8): 1101–1111

[23] Liu Z, Trentesaux A, Clemens S C (2003). Clay mineral assemblages in the northern South China Sea: Implications for East Asian monsoon evolution over the past 2 million years. Mar Geol, 201(1–3): 133–146

[24] Milliman J D, Shen H T, Yang Z S, Mead R H (1985). Transport and deposition of river sediment in the Changjiang estuary and adjacent continental shelf. Cont Shelf Res, 4(1–2): 37–45

[25] Naidu A S, Myung W H, Thomas C M, Wieslawa W (1995). Clay minerals as indicators of sources of terrigenous sediments, their transportation and deposition: Bering Basin, Russian-Alaskan Arctic. Mar Geol, 127(1–4): 87–104

[26] Petschick R, Kuhn G, Gingele F X (1996). Clay mineral distribution in surface sediments of the South Atlantic sources, transport and relation to oceanography. Mar Geol, 130(3–4): 203–229

[27] Rateer M (1969). The distribution of clay minerals in the ocean. Sedimentology, 13(1–2): 21–43

[28] Singer A (1980). The paleoclimatic interpretation of clay minerals in soils and weathering profiles. Earth Sci Rev, 15(4): 303–326

[29] Singer A (1984). The paleoclimatic interpretation of clay minerals in sediments —A review. Earth Sci Rev, 21(4): 251–293

[30] Sionneau T, Bout R T, Biscaye P E, Van Vliet L B, Bory A (2008). Clay mineral distributions in and around the Mississippi River watershed and Northern Gulf of Mexico: Sources and transport patterns. Quat Sci Rev, 27(17–18): 1740–1751

[31] Tang Y J, Jia J Y, Xie X D (2002). Environment significance of clay minerals. Earth Sci Front, 9(2): 337–344 (in Chinese)

[32] Thiry M (2000). Palaeoclimatic interpretation of clay minerals in marine deposits: An outlook from the continental origin. Earth Sci Rev, 49(1–4): 201–221

[33] Xin C Y, He L B, Wang H Y (1998). Clay minerals in the surficial sediments from the Huanghe(Yellow River) Estuary and Its offshore areas. Journal of Oceanography of Huanghai and Bohai Sea, 16(4): 23–27 (in Chinese)

[34] Xiong Y, Zhang J Z (1995). China Hydrology Distribution. Beijing: Sciencce Press, 206 (in Chinese)

[35] Xu K H, John D M, Li A C, Liu J P, Wan S M (2009). Yangtze-and Taiwan-derived sediments on the innershelf of East China Sea. Cont Shelf Res, 29(18): 2240–2256

[36] Yang Z S (1988). Minarallogical assemblages and chemical characteristics of clays from sediments of the Huang, Changjiang, Zhujiang rivers and their reletionships to the climate environment in their sediment source areas. Oceanologia ET Limnologia Sinica, 19(4): 336–346 (in Chinese)

[37] Ye Q C (1994). Environment Evolution and Sediment Transportation of the Yellow Catchment. Jinan: Shandong Science Technology Press, 220 (in Chinese)

[38] You Z H, Tang J L (1992). Preliminary study on clay sediments in western Taiwan Strait. Acta Sedimentsologica Sinica, 10(4): 130–136 (in Chinese)

[39] Yu X, Jiang C H (1984). Modoern Deposited Minerals in the Marine and X Diffraction Research. Beijing: Sciencce Press, 241–250 (in Chinese)

[40] Zhao Q G, Shi X (2007). Soil Resources. Beijing: Science Press, 32–35 (in Chinese)

[41] Zhou X J, Gao S, Jia J J (2003). Preliminary evaluation of the stability of Changjiang clay minerals as fingerprints for material source tracing. Oceanologia ET Limnologia Sinica, 34(6): 683–692 (in Chinese)

Acknowledgements

The study was funded by Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (No. 20090076120019) and the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (No. SKLKC-2008 KYYW02).

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg