W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 2001 Post-glacial sedimentation in a river -dominated epicontinental shelf: The Yellow Sea example Jing-pu Liu College of William and Mary - Virginia Institute of Marine Science Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the Geology Commons, and the Oceanography Commons Recommended Citation Liu, Jing-pu, "Post-glacial sedimentation in a river -dominated epicontinental shelf: The Yellow Sea example" (2001). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539616747. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.25773/v5-4384-vh22 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Reproduced with with permission permission of the of copyright the copyright owner. owner.Further reproductionFurther reproduction prohibited without prohibited permission. without permission. POST-GLACIAL SEDIMENTATION IN A RIVER-DOMINATED EPICONTINENTAL SHELF: THE YELLOW SEA EXAMPLE A Dissertation Present to The Faculty of the School of Marine Science The College of William & Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment Of Requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Jing-pu Liu 2001 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMl Number 3029880 ___ <0 UMl UMl Microform 3029880 Copyright 2002 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. APPROVAL SHEET This dissertation is submitted in partial fulfillment of The requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy inafpu Liu Approved. November 2001 fj' John D. Milliman. Ph.D. Committee Chairman/Advisor s i L. DoneTsbn WriehL Ph.'B. AT Kuphf. Ph.D. Yoshiki Saito, Ph.D.^ Coastal Environment Research Group Geological Survey of Japan. Tsukuba. Japan u Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................. v LIST OF TABLES.............................................................................................. vi LIST OF FIGURES............................................................................................. vii ABSTRACT........................................................................................................ ix INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................. 2 References.................................................................................................... 6 CHAPTER I: Research Background ................................................................... 7 Overview Epicontinental Shelf Sediment Accumulation .............................. 7 Geologic and Physical Setting ..................................................................... 12 Oceanographic Circulation in the East China Sea and Yellow Sea ............... 17 Previous studies of the early Holocene and modem sediments ..................... 20 Holocene Sediment Depositional Patterns ............................................... 20 Historical Changes of the Yellow River Sediment ................................... 24 The Problems and Questions ......................................................................... 27 References................................................................................................... 31 CHAPTER 2: The Shandong Mud Wedge and Post-glacial Sediment Accumulation in the Yellow Sea .................................................................. 39 Abstract........................................................................................................ 39 Introduction .................................................................................................. 40 Shandong Mud Wedge ................................................................................. 42 Materials and Methods ................................................................................. 43 Results .................................................................................................. 44 Discussion .................................................................................................... 45 Acknowledgements ...................................................................................... 49 References.................................................................................................... 50 CHAPTER 3: Post-Glacial Sea-Level Transgression in the East China and Yellow Seas: Significance of Periodic Rapid Flooding Events ................... 59 Abstract........................................................................................................ 59 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. 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Sea Level History Derived from Coral Reefs ................................................ 60 East China and Yellow Seas ......................................................................... 63 Discussion .................................................................................................... 65 References and Notes .................................................................................... 68 CHAPTER 4: Sedimentary Processes of the Yellow River’s Subaqueous Delta in the North Yellow Sea............................................................................. 76 Abstract...................................................................................................... 76 Introduction .................................................................................................. 78 Study area ..................................................................................................... 80 Methods ....................................................................................................... 84 Results ................................................................................................ 86 Shallow Structure................................................................................... 86 Sediments and Recent Rates of Sediment Accumulation .......................... 88 Development of the Shandong Clinoform .................................................... 89 Conclusions .................................................................................................. 94 References................................................................................................... 97 CHAPTER 5: Late Quaternary sequence stratigraphy model in the epicontinental shelf- The Yellow Sea .......................................................... 123 The Post-glacial sea-level history and climatic changes............................... 123 Evo lution o f the Yellow River and its deltaic depocenters on the shelf. 125 Sequence stratigraphy model on the Yellow Sea epicontinental shelf 127 References.................................................................................................... 129 APPENDICES..................................................................................................... 134 VITA................................................................................................................... 151 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS More people than I can mention here helped me reach this stage, but a number of them deserve special recognition. First, many, many thanks to my major professor. Dr. John D. Milliman, for his advice and strong support, and his insight and foresight to question the conventional wisdom about how coral reefs responded to rapid sea-level rise. I would like to thank other members of my advisory committee for their support throughout my study and research. Dr. Wright and Dr. Kuehl have given their generous assistance to help me understand worldwide deltaic deposits and seismic applications. Dr. Saito hosted my visits and helped a lot to collect extensive references and sea-level data; he also gave me lots of critical suggestions and invaluable advice. Dr. Perry and Dr. Roth also gave their great help in forming the research topics. This research work would not have been possible without the support, encouragement, and advice of Peggy Schexnayder. I would also like to thank Prof. Qin Yunshan, Yang Zuosheng, Gao Shu and Zhao Songling for their hosting and assistance with cruises and data acquisition. Many thanks to Mr. Cheng Peng, Prof. Guan Chengzhong, and Wang Shaozhi for their help in the seismic profiling and geological sampling. Sincere thanks to Linda Meneghini for her invaluable help in sample analysis. Katie Farnsworth helped in so many ways, including GIS application, seismic profile processing, discussions, my English writing, etc. Help from the Graduate Office, School of Marine Science. Dr. Mike Newman, Sarah Hamrick, and Sue Presson, are invaluable. I am also grateful