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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Marine Biogeochemistry
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1440886
This article is part of the Research Topic Linking Source and Sink: Advances in Provenance and Sedimentary Processes of Marine Sediments View all articles

The sources and transport model of deep-sea sediment in the Southwest Sub-basin of the South China Sea

Provisionally accepted
Zhourong Cai Zhourong Cai 1*Xiaoxiang Wang Xiaoxiang Wang 1Lifeng Zhong Lifeng Zhong 2Xin Sui Xin Sui 1
  • 1 Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
  • 2 Southern Ocean Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Turbidity current deposition belongs to event deposition, which is of great significance to the study of neotectonic movement. However, turbidite deposits are rarely found in deep-sea basins. In this work, the particle size, mineralogy, and geochemistry of 14 deep-sea sediment cores from the Southwest Sub-basin (SWSB) of South China Sea (SCS) and its periphery are used to trace the sources of sediment and reveal the sedimentological and geochemical characteristics of deepsea sediments. The results show that quartz and feldspar are the main minerals in the core sediments from the SWSB, and there are multiple layers of turbidites. Geochemical analysis reveals that the composition of the core sediments is close to that of the western margin of the SCS and is similar to that of the upper continental crust (UCC) and is inherited from terrigenous sediments. The Sr-Nd isotope results indicate that the sediment provenances of the SWSB are from the Mekong River, Sunda Shelf and Red River, showing the characteristics of multiple sources. Therefore, we propose that terrigenous materials from multiple sources can reach the deep-sea basin of the SWSB, and we also establish a transport model of deep-sea terrigenous sediment. Terrigenous materials were first carried by rivers and surface currents to the continental margins near the SWSB, and fine materials were subsequently transported by surface currents to the deep-sea basin, while coarse materials were subsequently transported by turbidity currents. Turbidity current deposits provide an approach for studying the transport of coarse materials in deep-sea basins of SWSB.

    Keywords: Southwest sub-basin, South China Sea, Sediment sources, Transport model, Deep-sea sediment

    Received: 30 May 2024; Accepted: 15 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Cai, Wang, Zhong and Sui. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Zhourong Cai, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China

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