Shulan Ge

Magnetostratigraphy of a greigite-bearing core from the South Yellow Sea: Implications for remagnetization and sedimentation

Sediments from the continental shelf are sensitive to sea level, climatic changes, and local tectonic history. In this study, we carried out a high-resolution magnetostratigraphic investigation on the longest core (NHH01, 125.64 m) recovered from the South Yellow Sea (SYS). An abnormal interval dominated by negative inclinations was discovered by applying alternating field demagnetization (AFD) on samples from a greigite-bearing layer (44.90–51.80 m). In contrast, the inclinations of most greigite-bearing samples changed from negative to positive when heated to ~360°C. This strongly indicates that this inclination anomaly revealed by the AFD alone is not a true negative subchron. After neglecting the effects of greigite-bearing layers, the straightforward correlation of the interpreted magnetostratigraphy defines the Matuyama-Brunhes boundary (781 ka) and the Jaramillo top (990 ka) at 68.64 m and 101.54 m, respectively. The linearly extrapolated basal age of the core is ~1.10 Ma. In addition, several short-lived inclination anomalies can be tentatively assigned to magnetic excursions, which indicates that the sedimentation could be continuous even at the millennial time scale at depth intervals bracketing these fast geomagnetic events. Moreover, the excellent correspondence between clay content variations of the core and the marine oxygen isotope record indicates the potential of clay content as a paleoclimatic proxy in the studied region in the past ~1 Ma. In brief, our study provides not only a robust age model in the SYS but also a methodological guide for paleomagnetic studies in continental shelf region.

Distribution characteristics of magnetic susceptibility of the surface sediments in the southern Yellow Sea

The characteristic distributions of magnetic susceptibility (MS) are analyzed on the basis of susceptibility of 172 surface sediment samples in the southern Yellow Sea (SYS). The preliminary results are as follows: first, the distributions clearly correspond to different modern sediment assemblages in the continental sea, which indicates different sediment origins. With the 30 μCGS isoline being taken as demarcation line, the study area can then be divided into section H (high MS value area) and section L (low MS value area). Section H is mainly adjacent to land with two main sources of the Changjiang River and the Huanghe River. Section L is mainly an eddy sediment area, where Yellow Sea Cold Water is entrenched all the year round. The distribution pattern of MS could tell apart strong or weak hydrodynamic conditions and has a close relation to the circulation system in this area. At the areas of the SYS Circumfluent and northern East China Sea (NECS) Circumfluent (weak hydrodynamic), the MS has low values, while in the areas of Coastal Current (strong hydrodynamic), the values are high. At the same time, the oxidizing areas tend to take on higher MS, while the reducing areas have lower one. It seems safe to say that the MS in the continental sea reflects more of the sediment origin and sedimentary environment, which is different from that of loess, lake and surface soil as a climate proxy.

Late Quaternary Deep Stratification‐Climate Coupling in the Southern Ocean: Implications for Changes in Abyssal Carbon Storage

The Southern Ocean plays an important role in modulating Pleistocene atmospheric CO2 concentrations, but the underlying mechanisms are not yet fully understood. Here, we report the laser grain-size distribution and Mn geochemical data of a 523 kyr-long sediment record (core ANT30/P1-02 off Prydz Bay; East Antarctica) to trace past physical changes in the deep Southern Ocean. The core sediments are predominantly composed of clay and silt-sized material. Three grain size end-members (EM) as well as three sensitive grain size classes (SC) were discerned, interpreted as Ice Rafted Debris (EM1 and SC1), and coarse (EM2 and SC2) and fine (EM3, SC3) materials deposited from bottom nepheloid layers, respectively. Ratios of EM2/(EM2+EM3) and SC2/SC3 reveal changes in the local bottom current strength, which is related to the deep ocean diapycnal mixing rate, showing higher values during interglacial periods and lower values during glacial periods. MnO was enriched at each glacial termination, probably caused by abrupt elevations in Antarctic bottom water (AABW) formation rate. Lower AABW formation rate and reduced deep diapycnal mixing during glacial periods enhanced deep Southern Ocean stratification, contributing to glacial atmospheric CO2 drawdown. The elevated AABW formation and enhanced deep diapycnal mixing during glacial terminations alleviated such deep stratification, promoting deeply sequestered CO2 to outgas.