Impacts of Holocene Sea Level Rise and the Opening of the Qiongzhou Strait on the Provenance of Sediments in the Beibu Gulf, South China Sea

The opening of the Qiongzhou Strait during the Holocene was a significant geological event in the Beibu Gulf, profoundly influencing sediment provenance and ocean circulation systems. Due to the scarcity of geological records documenting this event, the understanding of regional Holocene sedimentary...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zhenang Cui, Yueming Hou
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-04-01
Series:Applied Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/8/4224
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850156006273712128
author Zhenang Cui
Yueming Hou
author_facet Zhenang Cui
Yueming Hou
author_sort Zhenang Cui
collection DOAJ
description The opening of the Qiongzhou Strait during the Holocene was a significant geological event in the Beibu Gulf, profoundly influencing sediment provenance and ocean circulation systems. Due to the scarcity of geological records documenting this event, the understanding of regional Holocene sedimentary evolution has been constrained. To investigate the impact of this event on sediment provenance and ocean currents in the Beibu Gulf, geochemical analyses were conducted on sediment core SO-31 retrieved from the South China Sea. The sediments in core SO-31 were stratigraphically divided into three units based on vertical geochemical profiles, reflecting changes in sea level and shifts in sediment provenance within the study area. The Th/Cr vs. Th/Sc scatter plot for core SO-31 indicate that sedimentary materials primarily originated from the Red River during 11,400–7700 a BP, and a significant change in provenance occurred in the study region around 7700 a BP, characterized by increased contributions from the Qiongzhou Strait and decreased contributions from the Red River. This suggests that the opening of the Qiongzhou Strait significantly influenced the sediment supply to the central Beibu Gulf around 7700 a BP. These findings provide critical geochemical evidence for studying the Qiongzhou Strait opening event and enhance our understanding of Holocene sedimentary evolution and “source–sink” transitions in the Beibu Gulf.
format Article
id doaj-art-002dff8f3c34442ca45ee98914e33ff7
institution OA Journals
issn 2076-3417
language English
publishDate 2025-04-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Applied Sciences
spelling doaj-art-002dff8f3c34442ca45ee98914e33ff72025-08-20T02:24:43ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172025-04-01158422410.3390/app15084224Impacts of Holocene Sea Level Rise and the Opening of the Qiongzhou Strait on the Provenance of Sediments in the Beibu Gulf, South China SeaZhenang Cui0Yueming Hou1Sanya Geology Institute of South China Sea, Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey, China Geological Survey, Sanya 572025, ChinaInstitute for Marine Petroleum Geology, Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey, China Geological Survey, Guangzhou 510075, ChinaThe opening of the Qiongzhou Strait during the Holocene was a significant geological event in the Beibu Gulf, profoundly influencing sediment provenance and ocean circulation systems. Due to the scarcity of geological records documenting this event, the understanding of regional Holocene sedimentary evolution has been constrained. To investigate the impact of this event on sediment provenance and ocean currents in the Beibu Gulf, geochemical analyses were conducted on sediment core SO-31 retrieved from the South China Sea. The sediments in core SO-31 were stratigraphically divided into three units based on vertical geochemical profiles, reflecting changes in sea level and shifts in sediment provenance within the study area. The Th/Cr vs. Th/Sc scatter plot for core SO-31 indicate that sedimentary materials primarily originated from the Red River during 11,400–7700 a BP, and a significant change in provenance occurred in the study region around 7700 a BP, characterized by increased contributions from the Qiongzhou Strait and decreased contributions from the Red River. This suggests that the opening of the Qiongzhou Strait significantly influenced the sediment supply to the central Beibu Gulf around 7700 a BP. These findings provide critical geochemical evidence for studying the Qiongzhou Strait opening event and enhance our understanding of Holocene sedimentary evolution and “source–sink” transitions in the Beibu Gulf.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/8/4224geochemistrysediment provenanceBeibu GulfSouth China SeaHolocene
spellingShingle Zhenang Cui
Yueming Hou
Impacts of Holocene Sea Level Rise and the Opening of the Qiongzhou Strait on the Provenance of Sediments in the Beibu Gulf, South China Sea
Applied Sciences
geochemistry
sediment provenance
Beibu Gulf
South China Sea
Holocene
title Impacts of Holocene Sea Level Rise and the Opening of the Qiongzhou Strait on the Provenance of Sediments in the Beibu Gulf, South China Sea
title_full Impacts of Holocene Sea Level Rise and the Opening of the Qiongzhou Strait on the Provenance of Sediments in the Beibu Gulf, South China Sea
title_fullStr Impacts of Holocene Sea Level Rise and the Opening of the Qiongzhou Strait on the Provenance of Sediments in the Beibu Gulf, South China Sea
title_full_unstemmed Impacts of Holocene Sea Level Rise and the Opening of the Qiongzhou Strait on the Provenance of Sediments in the Beibu Gulf, South China Sea
title_short Impacts of Holocene Sea Level Rise and the Opening of the Qiongzhou Strait on the Provenance of Sediments in the Beibu Gulf, South China Sea
title_sort impacts of holocene sea level rise and the opening of the qiongzhou strait on the provenance of sediments in the beibu gulf south china sea
topic geochemistry
sediment provenance
Beibu Gulf
South China Sea
Holocene
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/8/4224
work_keys_str_mv AT zhenangcui impactsofholocenesealevelriseandtheopeningoftheqiongzhoustraitontheprovenanceofsedimentsinthebeibugulfsouthchinasea
AT yueminghou impactsofholocenesealevelriseandtheopeningoftheqiongzhoustraitontheprovenanceofsedimentsinthebeibugulfsouthchinasea