• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.53 no.5
• /
• pp.505-515
• /
• 2020

The Yellow Sea and northern East China Sea contain a transgressive sand layer. Numerous sedimentary studies have been carried out in these sand deposits using seismic exploration and core sediment techniques, but few mineralogical studies have been reported. The major purposes of this study are to describe the distributions of heavy minerals throughout the Yellow sea and northern East China Sea and to identify the provenance of coarse sediments using the mineral chemistry. Eight heavy mineral species were identified in the study area (epidote, amphibole, garnet, zircon, sphene, rutile, apatite, and monazite). The study region was divided into six areas (areas A to F) based on heavy mineral distributions and sampling locations. In mineral chemistry, the amphiboles present are classified as edenite and hornblende in the calcic amphibole group, and the garnets are identified primarily as almandine in the pyralspite group. A combined data set of heavy mineral distributions and mineral chemistry showed clear differentiation of the characteristics of the six classified areas, enabling determination of provenance and sedimentary environment. Area A and B in the eastern Yellow Sea were originated from the Korean peninsula, and these regions showed different heavy mineral characteristics by tidal current and coastal current. In addition, monazite was only found in the area B and could be used as an indicator from the southwestern Korean peninsula. Area D and E in the western Yellow Sea showed the characteristics of sediments originating from the Huanghe, and sediment in the area E was derived from the Changjiang. Area C in the northern East China Sea appeared to have Changjiang-origin sediment, and abundant apatite indicated that area C was formed close to the Last Glacial Maximum.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
• /
• v.29 no.4
• /
• pp.328-340
• /
• 2008

To discriminate the provenance of shelf sediments in the western part off Jeju Island, the textual and elemental compositions were analyzed and compared with the sediments originating from Changjiang and Huanghe Rivers of China and the Korean (Keum) River. The sediments in the study area are composed of coarse silt with a mean pain size of $3.6{\sim}8.5{\phi}$ and their $CaCO_3$ contents ranged from 0.92 to 9.75 wt.%. The ratios of TOC over total nitrogen (TN) showed that the study area sediments contained more organic matters of marine origin than those of terrigenous origin. The high concentration of Fe/Al, Ti/Al and Mn/Al figures were found in the southwestern part near the Changjiang esturay, indicating that it seemed to result from the influence of the Changjiang River. The discrimination diagrams including Sc/Al vs Cr/Th, Th/Sc vs Nb/Co and Ti/Nb vs Th/Sc were thus used as provenance indicators to identify the sediment origins of the western part off Jeju Island. Based on these discriminated diagrams it clearly showed that most of the sediment in the western part were originated from the Huanghe River, but the sediments in the southwestern part near the Changjiang esturay might come from the Changjiang River. In contrast, the sediment samples of the northeastern part showed the higher figures than those of the river sediments and other regions, suggesting that the sediments in the western part off Jeju Island must be originated from diverse sources.

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.41 no.4
• /
• pp.265-274
• /
• 2019

To trace the provenance of fine-grained sediments in response to the growth and retreat of glaciers (i.e., Ross Ice Sheet) that affects the depositional process, various kinds of analyses including magnetic susceptibility, granulometry, and clay mineral composition with AMS ¹⁴C age dating were carried out using a gravity core KI-13-GC2 obtained from the Central Basin of the Ross Sea continental margin. The sediments mostly consist of silty mud to sand with ice-rafted debris, the sediment colors alternate repeatedly between light brown and gray, and the sedimentary structures are almost bioturbated with some faint laminations. Among the fine-grained clay mineral compositions, illite is highest (59.1-76.2%), followed by chlorite (12.4-21.4%), kaolinite (4.1-11.6%), and smectite (1.2-22.6%). Illite and chlorite originated from the Transantarctic mountains (metamorphic rocks and granitic rocks) situated to the south of the Ross Sea. Kaolinite might be supplied from the sedimentary rocks of Antarctic continent underneath the ice sheet. The provenance of smectite was considered as McMurdo volcanic group around the Victoria Land in the western part of the Ross Sea. Chlorite content was higher and smectite content was lower during the glacial periods, although illite and kaolinite contents are almost consistent between the glacial and interglacial periods. The glacial increase of chlorite content may be due to more supply of the reworked continental shelf sediments deposited during the interglacial periods to the Central Basin. On the contrary, the glacial decrease of smectite content may be attributed to less transport from the McMurdo volcanic group to the Central Basin due to the advanced ice sheet. Although the source areas of the clay minerals in the Central Basin have not changed significantly between the interglacial and glacial periods, the transport pathways and delivery mechanism of the clay minerals were different between the glacial and interglacial periods in response to the growth and retreat of Ross Ice Sheet in the Ross Sea.

• 한국지구과학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2010.04a
• /
• pp.58-58
• /
• 2010

The sediment geochemistry, including REE of surface and core samples in the western part off Jeju Island have been carried out in order to understand the provenance and hydrolic sorting. The sediment in the study area were primarily composed of coarse silt with a mean grain size of $2.8{\sim}82.8{\mu}m$. The ratios of TOC over total nitrogen (TN) showed that the study area sediments contained more organic matters of marine origin than those of terrigenous origin. The total A1203, Fe203, K20, MgO, and MnO contents and REE concentration of the fine sediments are higher than those of the coarse sediments. The higher Zr/Th and Zr/Yb ratios in coarse sediments relative to fine-grained detritus indicates sedimentary sorting. Grain size influence the REE concentrations of the study area sediment significantly. The < $63{\mu}m$ fraction of the sediment has higher REE concentration and different REE patterns when compared with those in bulk samples, due to the presence of REE-enrich heavy minerals. The REE distribution patterns of the western part of Jeju Island sediments are relatively enriched in most LREEs than the Yellow River sediment and depleted in the Changjiang River, but the LaN/YbN ratios are similar to the Changjiang sediment. The Eu/Eu* ratios ranged from 0.594~0.665(0.631) is much similar to the Yellow River sediment, possibly mixture of the sediments from these two rivers.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.337-345
• /
• 2003

Surficial sediments from the northern coastal area of Jeju Island, southeastern Yellow Sea (South Sea of Korea) were analyzed for grain-size texture, some geochemical characteristics and clay mineralogy in order to assess their provenance. Rare-earth element compositions and some geochemical discrimination diagrams, especially of Ti/Al, Nb/Al and Rb/Al ratios, were revealed to be useful indices for identifying the origin of sediments. These indices, together with clay mineral compositions, suggest that the coarse-grained sediments originate from the volcanic rocks of Jeju Island, whereas the fine-grained sediments are derived from Chinese rivers, especially the Changjiang River. The oceanic circulation pattern and the physical-chemical properties of seawater in the Yellow and East China seal support the possibility that the fine-pained Changjiang (Yangtze River) sediments can reach the coastal area of Jeju Island (southeastern Yellow Sea).

• Geosciences Journal
• /
• v.22 no.6
• /
• pp.989-1000
• /
• 2018

The provenance of the Central Yellow Sea Mud (CYSM) in the Yellow Sea has been attracted a great deal of attention over the last three decades, but a consensus is not yet reached. In this study, 101 surface sediment samples collected from the CYSM were investigated to determine provenance and transport mechanisms in the area using the clay minerals and major element components. The Huanghe sediments are characterized by higher smectite, but the Changjiang sediments are more abundant illite contents. Western Korean rivers contain more kaolinite and chlorite than do Chinese rivers. The Chinese rivers have higher $Fe_2O_3$, MgO, and CaO than the Korean rivers at the same $Al_2O_3$ concentration. Therefore, the clay minerals and major element concentrations can be useful indicator for the source. Based on our results, we suggest that the surface sediments in CYSM were composed mainly of Changjiang sediments, mixed a partly with sediments from the Huanghe and the western Korean rivers. Although the northwestern part of CYSM is proximate to the Huanghe, the contents of smectite and CaO were extremely low. It could be evidence that the Huanghe materials do not enter directly into the CYSM due to the Shandong Peninsula Front. Considering the oceanic circulation in the Yellow Sea, the Changjiang sediments could be transported eastward with the Changjiang Diluted Water and then mixed in CYSM via the Yellow Sea Warm Current (YSWC). Huanghe sediments could be provided by coastal currents (Shandong Coastal Current and Yellow Sea Coastal Current) and the YSWC. In addition, sediments from western Korean rivers might be supplied into the CYSM deposit via the Korean Coastal Current, Transversal Current, and YSWC.

• Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
• /
• v.33 no.3
• /
• pp.175-183
• /
• 2020

There have rarely been performed for the clay mineralogy of the East Sea sediments except for few studies about paleoenvironmental aspect. This study inferred the provenance of sediments based on the clay mineral characteristics and distribution pattern for the 120 sediment samples collected by the box corer from the Gangneung-Donghae area between 2017-2019. The relative proportions of the four major clay minerals are abundant in the order of illite, chlorite, kaolinite, and smectite. The continental shelf sediments below water depth 150 m have more chlorite and kaolinite content and better illite crystallinity, but less illite and smectite content, and S/I index than those of continental slope sediments. Clay mineral composition of the continental shelf sediments are influenced by the adjacent continental geology, because north site (Gangneung area) has more chlorite but south site (Donghae area) has more kaolinite. These characteristics and distribution pattern of clay minerals indicate that the provenance of sediments are different between continental shelf and continental slop. The continental shelf sediments may be introduced the study area by the adjacent small rivers whereas the continental slope sediment might be supplied by current from the south of the study area.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.198-208
• /
• 2006

To investigate the provenance of outer-shelf mud patch in the East China Sea, the geochemical compositions were analyzed and compared with those of Chinese rivers sediments. The mud sedimentary facies are distributed in the central region and sandy mud facies are also widely distributed around the study area. The major elements (Fe, Mg, K, Ti, and Mn) show strong positive correlation with Al, and trace elements also indicate the same characteristics; hence, clay minerals are likely to be the promising host for those elements. The high concentration of Fe, Ti, and Mn elements are found in the western middle part near the Changjiang estuary, indicating that it seems to result from the influence of the Changjiang River. Elemental ratios including Sc/Al, Ti/Nb, Th/Sc, Cr/Th, Nb/Co, and Th/U were thus used as provenance indicators to identify the sediment origins of the East China Sea. The discrimination diagrams clearly show that most of the sediment in the northern part are originated from the Huanghe River, while the muddy sediments in the western part near the Changjiang estuary might come from the Changjiang River, suggesting that the outer-shelf muddy sediments of East China Sea are originated from diverse sources.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.107-114
• /
• 2014

In this study, we tried to determine the origin of fine-grained sediments in Southeastern Yellow Sea Mud patch (SEYSM) using principal component analysis coupled with semi-quantitative X-ray diffraction analysis for 4 major clay minerals. We used 51 marine surface sediments from SEYSM and 33 surface sediments of rivers flowing into the Yellow Sea. We made bioplot diagram using R program with principal component 1 and component 2 because the two components might contain about 98% of all data. The content of each clay mineral in the south and north regions of SEYSM are almost similar. In the biplot, SEYSM sediments distribute close to Korean rivers sediments than Huanghe and Changjiang sediments. Based on these results, we suggest that SEYSM is originated from the Korean rivers sediments. The higher accumulation rate in the SEYSM compared to the sediment discharge from neighboring Korean rivers can be explained by erosion and reworking of surface sediments in this area. The principal component analysis can be used for the provenance research of marine sediments around the Korean Peninsula.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.203-212
• /
• 2007

Mineral compositions of 89 Yellow Sea surface sediments collected at the second cruise in 2001, were determined using the high resolution X-ray diffractometer and Siroquant v.3.0 program. Yellow Sea surface sediments are composed of major minerals (quartz 57.8%, plagioclase 16.0% and alkali feldspar 10.0%), clay minerals, and calcite. Illite (8.7%) is the most abundant clay mineral, chlorite (2.6%) is the second, and kaolinite (0.6%) is few. however smectite is not detected. Quartz content is very high around the margin of the Yellow Sea, however is very low along the northwest to southeast direction extending from southeast of Sandong Peninsula to southwest of Jeju Island. It has similar distribution pattern with that of coarse sediment (sand). The coarse sediment, is mainly consisted of quartz, may be much supplied from the eastern part and southwestern part of the Yellow Sea. Illite distribution pattern is opposite to that of quartz. It is similar to those of clay and mud particles, therefore it can be suggested that fine sediment may be largely supplied from the northwestern part of the Yellow Sea. It is necessary to continue this kind of investigation, because it is difficult to interpret the sediment provenance of the Yellow Sea only from the result of this study.