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Dispersal of the Zhujiang River (Pearl River) Derived Sediment in the Holocene GE Qian1*, LIU J

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Dispersal of the Zhujiang River (Pearl River) Derived Sediment in the Holocene GE Qian1*, LIU J Acta Oceanol. Sin., 2014, Vol. 33, No. 8, P. 1–9 DOI: 10.1007/s13131-014-0407-8 http://www.hyxb.org.cn E-mail: [email protected] Dispersal of the Zhujiang River (Pearl River) derived sediment in the Holocene GE Qian1*, LIU J. P.2, XUE Zuo2, CHU Fengyou1 1 Key Laboratory of Submarine Geosciences, State Oceanic Administration, Second Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Hangzhou 310012, China 2 Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA Received 6 November 2012; accepted 23 July 2013 ©The Chinese Society of Oceanography and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014 Abstract High-resolution Chirp profiling and coring reveals an elongated (ca. 400 km) Holocene Zhujiang River (Pearl River)-derived mud area (maximum thickness > 20 m) extending from the Zhujiang River Delta, southwest- ward off the Guangdong coast, to the Leizhou Peninsula. Two depo-centers, one proximal and one distal, are identified. On the continental shelf off the west Guangdong Province, the mud is deposited in water depth shallower than 50 m; while to the southeast of the Zhujiang River Estuary, the mud area can extend to the −120 m isobath. A combined analysis with the stratigraphic sequences of other muddy deposits in the West- ern Pacific marginal seas (mainly Changjiang (Yangtze) and Huanghe (Yellow) Rivers derived) indicates that the initiation of the Zhujiang River muddy deposit can be further divided into two stages: Stage 1 is before the mid-Holocene sea-level highstand (ca. 7.0 cal. ka BP), the proximal mud was mostly deposited after 9.0 cal. ka BP, when the sea-level rose slowly after the Meltwater Pulse -1C; Stage 2, after the mid-Holocene sea- level highstand, clinoform developed on the continental shelf off the west Guangdong Province, extending ca. 400 km from the Zhujiang River Estuary. The proximal clinoform thins offshore, from ca. 10 m thickness around 5–10 m water depth to less than 1–2 m around 20–30 m water depth. In addition, we also find a de- veloped distal clinoform in the east of the Leizhou Peninsula. Key words: South China Sea, Zhujiang River, mud, clinoform Citation: Ge Qian, Liu J. P., Xue Zuo, Chu Fengyou. 2014. Dispersal of the Zhujiang River (Pearl River) derived sediment in the Ho- locene. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 33(8): 1–9, doi: 10.1007/s13131-014-0407-8 1 Introduction second largest river, after the Mekong River, which drains into Rivers are the major carriers for delivering terrigenous ma- the South China Sea (Dai et al., 2008). It originates from the Yun- terials to the ocean (Milliman and Meade, 1983; Milliman and nan-Guizhou Plateau, drains the Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi Syvitski, 1992; Syvitski et al., 2005). The total suspended sedi- and Guangdong Provinces of China, flows toward the east and ment delivered by rivers to the ocean is about 15×109 t annually, empties into the South China Sea through the Zhujiang River of which Asian rivers discharge nearly more than 70% (Liu et al., Delta, which is one of the most important economic centers in 2009). Most of the sediment is either trapped in the estuaries or China, embracing Hongkong, Macao, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, deposited on the continental shelves, with less than 5%–10% of and other metropolis. The Zhujiang River drains an area of more the fluvial sediments escaping to the deep sea (Liu et al., 2009; than 0.45×106 km2 (Tong, 2007), and its average water discharge Meade, 1996). Among the large rivers in Asian, those originat- is 302×109 m3 annually (Huang et al., 1982). The Zhujiang River ed in the Tibetan Plateau are major contributors to the huge is a compound river system and mainly comprises the Xijiang, amount of sediment delivered to the West Pacific marginal seas. Beijiang, and Dongjiang Rivers. Among these tributaries, the Xi- In recent years, numerous efforts have been made to investi- jiang River is the largest branch, and has a length of 2 214 km gate the delivering process and distribution of the large-river- and a drainage area of 0.35×106 km2. The upper reach of the Xi- derived sediment (e.g., Huanghe River (Alexander et al., 1991; jiang River (Hongshuihe River), which drains a karst area, is the Liu et al., 2004; Yang and Liu, 2007), Changjiang River (Chen et main source for river sediment. The estimated Xijiang River-de- al., 2000; Liu et al., 2006, 2007a; Xu et al., 2009), and Mekong rived sediment flux is ca. 67×106 t/a (Dai et al., 2008). The Zhuji- River (Ta et al., 2002; Xue et al., 2010)). A series of distal depo- ang River Delta locates in the subtropical zone, and has a warm centers are revealed by acoustic profiling and coring, which and wet climate, with an annual mean temperature of 22°C, and provide profound insight into Holocene sea-level variations an annual precipitation of 1 600–2 200 mm (Huang et al., 1982). and climatic conditions as well. However, the research of those Rain is seasonal, with most of the annual rainfall arriving be- about the Zhujiang River is still limited. tween June and August. The average sedimentation rate in delta The Zhujiang River is the third largest river in China and the is about 2–3 mm annually (Huang et al., 1982). Foundation item: The National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 41106045 and 41206045; the Scientific Research Fund of the Second Institute of Oceanography, SOA under contract No. JT1102; the Basic Research Fund of State Oceanic Administration (named as Pale- oceanographic Research in the Western Pacific). *Corresponding author, E-mail: [email protected] 2 GE Qian et al. Acta Oceanol. Sin., 2014, Vol. 33, No. 8, P. 1–9 The Zhujiang River-derived muddy sediment is transported boreholes data (Huang and Ge, 1995; Owen et al., 1998; Fyfe et southwestward by the coastal current and deposited on the al., 1999; Yim, 2001; Xiao et al., 2006; Zhao et al., 2007a; Yim et continental shelf after delivering to the South China Sea (Fig. 1), al., 2006, 2008; Lan et al., 2008; Zong et al., 2009a, b) (Fig. 7), due to the influence of the geostrophic flow. However, little is we find an elongated (ca. 400 km), more than 20 m thick, pri- known about the morphological, stratigraphic, and other fea- marily Zhujiang River-derived muddy deposit extending from tures of the Zhujiang River-derived muddy deposit. In this the river mouth southwestward off the Guangdong coast to the study, we present the Chirp sonar sub-bottom profiles, which Leizhou Peninsula. We further divide this extensive deposit into obtained from the northern South China Sea geophysical in- two sub-systems: System 1 represents the Zhujiang River Delta, vestigation cruise in 2007. In conjunction with sediment char- which includes the subaerial delta plain, estuary, and the sub- acteristics analysis of four boreholes and previously published aqueous part (delta front and prodelta). System 2 is the Leizhou coring studies in the adjacent region, we aim to understand Penisula Mud Wedge, which represents the distal part of the the distribution and delivering process of the Zhujiang River- Zhujiang River-derived mud deposits delivered by China Coast- derived sediment in the Holocene. al Current (Fig. 9). Muddy deposit in System 1 thins offshore in two directions: along-shelf to the west, the deposit pinches out 2 Methods and data at water depths 40 to 50 m off the west Guangdong continental Approximate 620 km high-resolution acoustic data was shelf; in the across-shelf direction, the mud deposit can extend retrieved using an EdgeTech 0512i Chirp Sonar Sub-bottom to water depth 120 m off the estuary (Fig. 9). Besides the seismic Profiler (frequency range: 0.5–12 kHz) in 2007 (Figs 1–6). Back sub-bottom profiles, boundary of the mud area is also based on in laboratory, all acoustic data were post-processed using the the data of relict sediment cores E602 (Xiao et al., 2006), KP43, Discover software (Version 3.0), and an acoustic velocity of KP83, KP234 (Yim et al., 2006), ZD1, and ZD2 (Zhao et al., 2007a) 1 500 m/s was assumed to calculate water depth and sediment (Fig. 7), and the preliminary distribution of the northern South thickness. Five of nine acoustic profiles are discussed in this China Sea sediment described by Liu et al. (2002). The high-res- paper (Fig. 1). The distribution or isopach map of the Zhujiang olution seismic profiles allow more closely examination of the River-derived mud on the Zhujiang River delta plain and estu- internal architecture of the northern South China Sea continen- ary is mainly based on 53 boreholes data from previous studies tal shelf mud deposit. (Owen et al., 1998; Fyfe et al., 1999; Yim, 2001; Yim et al., 2008; Overall, seismic sub-bottom profiles show a prominent sub- Lan et al., 2008; Zong et al., 2009a, b), while that on the north- surface acoustic reflector (Figs 2–5). Based on previous stud- ern South China Sea shelf is based on the acoustic profiles and ies of other deposition systems in the Western Pacific (e.g., the other 24 boreholes data (Huang and Ge, 1995; Xiao et al., 2006; Changjiang subaqueous delta (Chen et al., 2000), distal deposits Yim et al., 2006; Zhao et al., 2007a) (Fig. 7). in the Yellow Sea (Liu et al., 2004; Yang and Liu, 2007) and East China Sea (Liu et al., 2007a)), this prominent acoustic reflector 3 Results is referred as the base of the post-glacial transgressive surface Combined with the selected seismic sub-bottom profiles (TS), which is apparently caused by a rapid landward transgres- (Figs 2–6), lithological feature of AMS 14C-dated cores VB1, sion during a rapid sea-level rise.
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