Journal
SCIENCE IN CHINA SERIES D-EARTH SCIENCES
Volume 46, Issue 12, Pages 1223-1235Publisher
SCIENCE CHINA PRESS
DOI: 10.1360/02yd0107
Keywords
clay minerals; sedimentation rate; East Asian monsoon; Quaternary; South China Sea
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Measurement of clay mineralogy at ODP Site 1146 in the northern South China Sea (SCS) indicates that illite, chlorite, and kaolinite contents increased during glacials and smectite content increased during interglacials. The smectite/(illite+chlorite) ratio and the smectite abundance were determined as mineralogical indicators for the East Asian monsoon evolution. At a 10 ka timescale, prevailing southeasterly surface oceanic currents during interglacials transported more smectite from the south and east areas to the north, showing a strengthened summer monsoon circulation, whereas dominated counter-clockwise surface currents during glacials carried more illite and chlorite from Taiwan as well as from the Yangtze River via the Luzon Strait to the northern SCS, indicating a strongly intensified winter monsoon. Based on a 100 ka timescale, a linear correlation between the smectite/(illite+chlorite) ratio and the sedimentation rate reflects that the winter monsoon has prevailed in the northern SCS in the intervals 2000-1200 ka and 400-0 ka and the summer monsoon did the same in the interval 1200-400 ka. The evolution of the summer monsoon provides an almost linear response to the summer insolation of Northern Hemisphere, implying an astronomical forcing of the East Asian monsoon evolution.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available