Characterizing Holocene environmental transitions using magnetic properties of sediments from the continental shelf of the northern South China Sea

IF 2.6 3区地球科学 Q2 GEOSCIENCES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Marine Geology Pub Date : 2025-02-01 DOI:10.1016/j.margeo.2024.107464

Yi Wu , Guanqiang Cai , Shun Li , Shixun Wang , Shuqing Fu , Yulin Han , Shichen Tao

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Abstract

Understanding past climate changes during the Holocene epoch, as recorded in continental shelf sediments, is crucial for reconstructing past climate patterns, sea-level fluctuations, and the influence of human activities. To explore Holocene environmental transitions in the northern South China Sea, we analyzed the sedimentary magnetic properties of the continental shelf east of Hainan Island. Our measurements revealed two significant transitions in magnetic mineral composition and grain size: around 7.6 ka and near 2 ka. The early transition around 7.6 ka is attributed to eustatic sea-level changes that altered coastal erosion, fluvial input, and sediment transportation due to the region's shallow shelf dynamics. Conversely, the recent transition near 2 ka is primarily due to the strengthened Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, which influenced the East Asian monsoon regime. This later period coincides with intensified anthropogenic agricultural activities over the last ca. 2 kyr, highlighting interactions between natural and early human intervention. Between these transitions, from ca. 7.6 ka to ca. 2 ka, the magnetic proxy data suggest relatively stable environmental conditions resembling an event similar to a Holocene climatic optimum. This interval is characterized by consistent sedimentary magnetic properties, indicating a period of climatic stability under the monsoonal climate regime.

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来源期刊

Marine Geology 地学-地球科学综合

CiteScore

6.10

自引率

6.90%

发文量

175

审稿时长

21.9 weeks

期刊介绍： Marine Geology is the premier international journal on marine geological processes in the broadest sense. We seek papers that are comprehensive, interdisciplinary and synthetic that will be lasting contributions to the field. Although most papers are based on regional studies, they must demonstrate new findings of international significance. We accept papers on subjects as diverse as seafloor hydrothermal systems, beach dynamics, early diagenesis, microbiological studies in sediments, palaeoclimate studies and geophysical studies of the seabed. We encourage papers that address emerging new fields, for example the influence of anthropogenic processes on coastal/marine geology and coastal/marine geoarchaeology. We insist that the papers are concerned with the marine realm and that they deal with geology: with rocks, sediments, and physical and chemical processes affecting them. Papers should address scientific hypotheses: highly descriptive data compilations or papers that deal only with marine management and risk assessment should be submitted to other journals. Papers on laboratory or modelling studies must demonstrate direct relevance to marine processes or deposits. The primary criteria for acceptance of papers is that the science is of high quality, novel, significant, and of broad international interest.