Silt-size sediment provenance of the Jianggang radial sand ridges in the southwestern Yellow Sea identified by geochemistry of quartz and K-feldspar

Abstract

In this paper, the geochemistry of K-feldspar and quartz, combined with MixSIAR and MDS models, was applied to illustrate the provenance of silt-size sediments in the Jianggang RSRs of the Yellow Sea, which profoundly affect the circulation of organic matter. The geochemical distributions revealed an apparent shoreward migration for sediments in the western offshore compared to eastern offshore. The models showed that the onshore RSRs silt-size sediments were mainly from the Yangtze River Mouth and Old Yellow River Delta, with contributions of 43.5 ± 15.3 % and 48.4 ± 13.9 %, respectively. While the offshore RSRs sediments were primarily from the Yangtze River Mouth (61.9 ± 18.0 %). Meanwhile, the transport patterns of silt-size sediments were proposed for the first time. The load calculation further showed that the expansion rate of local coast in 2023-2043 will be lower than in 1997-2017. Therefore, it was recommended to take actions for coastal development.

Keywords: Geochemistry; Radial sand ridges; Sediment provenance; Single mineral; Southwestern Yellow Sea.