• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.71-80
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• 2001

To understand paleoceanographic environmental changes in the Esat Sea during the transitional period between Holocene and last glacial maximum, geochemical high resolution study was conducted by using a piston core(95PC-1) samples collected from the southernmost part of the Ulleung Basin. Geochemical results reveal that major distinctive paleoceanographic variations in transitional period are prominent. Major elemental concentrations show distinctive variations between glacial and Holocene suggesting changes in sediment supply. $TiO_2/Al_2O_3$ ratio of the sediment indicates different sediment composition between Holocene and glacial period. The content of total organic carbon ranging from 0.5% to 4% during transitional period. These vslues showed 2-4 times and two times higher than those of last glacial and Holocene, respectively. The C/N ratios deduced from organic matters exceed10 during transitional period suggesting terrigenous organic matter are supplied from continent, especially during last glacial maximum. Carbonate contents are relatively stable during Holocene and last glacial maximum with gradual decrease during glacial period with high fluctuation during transitional period. The variations of chemical index of weathering (CIW) also show a distinctive variation between glacial and Holocene, which is coincident with those of carbonate and organic carbon. The grain size distribution indicates that the difference content of silt fraction during Holocene and glacial period is closely related with climatic effect during glacial period. Therefore geochemical differences in sediment composition between Holocene and last glacial maximum is thought to be related to paleoceanographic, sea-level change and local paleoclimatic changes.