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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Marine Biogeochemistry
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1463564
This article is part of the Research Topic Linking Source and Sink: Advances in Provenance and Sedimentary Processes of Marine Sediments View all 9 articles

Sedimentary dynamics in southern Mariana Trench and its controlling factors in past 440 kyr

Provisionally accepted
Zhongshan Shen Zhongshan Shen 1*Haifeng Wang Haifeng Wang 2,3*Yanping Chen Yanping Chen 4*Yun Cai Yun Cai 5*Liang Yi Liang Yi 5
  • 1 State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric and Environmental Coevolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
  • 2 Key Laboratory of Marine Mineral Resources, Ministry of Natural Resources, Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey, China Geological Survey, Guangzhou, China
  • 3 Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou 510301, China, Guangzhou, China
  • 4 Zhejiang Academy of Marine Sciences, Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou, China
  • 5 State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China

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

    Understanding sediment dynamics and their controlling factors is essential for Quaternary studies, yet they remain poorly documented in the Mariana Trench. In this work, we examine this basic character from a sediment core collected at a depth of 6470 m from the southern part of the Mariana Trench, documenting changes in sedimentary dynamics over the past ~440 kyr. Our primary findings are as follows: (1) The median grain size is 13.6 ± 12.0 μm, and minimal changes in clay (30.9 ± 9.4 %) and silt (56.6 ± 4.0 %) contents, indicating a low-dynamic depositional environment; (2) Three grain-size components were identified, characterized by modal changes of ~4/60 μm, ~20 μm, and >100 μm. By comparing these results with various environmental proxies, including glacial-interglacial alternations, eolian input, and bottom-water intensity, we suggest that marine productivity has a dominant influence on deep-sea sediment dynamics, though post-depositional processes also contribute. Additionally, topographical conditions and sea-water chemistry appear to be related to the presence of coarse particles, possibly through coarse transport and micro-nodule development. Overall, grain-size parameters provide a valuable investigative tool for understanding the various influences on sediment dynamics in this region.

    Keywords: Sediment grain size 1, Mariana Trench 2, Factor analysis 3, Deep-sea dynamics 4, Western Pacific 5 Sediment grain size1, Mariana Trench2, factor analysis3, Deep-sea dynamics4

    Received: 12 Jul 2024; Accepted: 28 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Shen, Wang, Chen, Cai and Yi. 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:
    Zhongshan Shen, State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric and Environmental Coevolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
    Haifeng Wang, Key Laboratory of Marine Mineral Resources, Ministry of Natural Resources, Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey, China Geological Survey, Guangzhou, China
    Yanping Chen, Zhejiang Academy of Marine Sciences, Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou, China
    Yun Cai, State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, Shanghai Municipality, China

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