Late Quaternary evolution of lower course river sections and coastal plains in the southwestern Hainan Island, South China Sea

IF 2.2 3区地球科学 Q3 GEOGRAPHY, PHYSICAL

Quaternary International Pub Date : 2026-03-30 Epub Date: 2026-01-24 DOI:10.1016/j.quaint.2026.110144

Ryszard Krzysztof Borówka , Jakub Miluch , Łukasz Maciąg , Andrzej Osadczuk , Tao Jiang , Hongjun Chen , Jan Harff , Michał Tomczak , Krystyna Osadczuk , Karolina Bloom , Jinpeng Zhang , Changliang Tong

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

The Late Pleistocene-Holocene evolution of Hainan Island was strongly affected by several hydrological and geological factors, including postglacial changes of global sea level, neotectonic movements and volcanic activity. These processes were coupled with strong regional climate forcing in SE Asia and its periodicity, reflected by variable precipitation and monsoonal activity occurring in the Intertropical Convergence Zone and being responsible for intensity of denudation as well as characteristics of fluvial processes. Additionally, the increasing human-related environmental imprint was observed since the middle Holocene, being related with extensive melioration, agriculture and urbanization activities.

Complex geological and environmental interpretation of sedimentological, geochemical, mineralogical and palynological data was achieved by analysis of several outcrops located in the western and southern part of Hainan Island. Field works were conducted in the lower course sections of Nangang, Tongtian, Zhubi and Baisha rivers, as well as on recent mangrove plains (Danzhou Bay) and Eemian marine terraces nearby Yangpu village. Occurrence of organic rich sediments enabled to conduct AMS ¹⁴C dating and to correlate the obtained results with the OSL ages of lacustrine-fluvial strata, which finally enabled to reconstruct environmental changes occurring in the last 130000 years.

Presented data inferred different spatiotemporal responses of lower course river sections and mangroves to the local sea level fluctuations in Late Pleistocene-Holocene. Based on a textural features of sediments, geomorphological features of river incisions and chronostratigraphic correlation of the data, six major evolutional stages of lower course river sections were proposed. Geochemical similarities between Holocene organic muds from river outcrops and recent mangrove plains were described, additionally evidenced by an increased proportion of mangrove ferns of Acrostichum, Trespecia and Rhizopora families. Observed exhumation of the older strata was affected by gradual decrease of denudation processes intensity and enhanced incision of flood-plain terraces build of Middle Holocene compacted organic muds. As indicated by the estimation of neotectonic movements, coarse sedimentary material transported by several rivers of western and southern Hainan, influenced formation of “Hainan Delta’, especially during local stages of sea level rise.

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南海海南岛西南部下游河段及滨海平原晚第四纪演化

海南岛晚更新世—全新世的演化受全球冰川后海平面变化、新构造运动和火山活动等多种水文地质因素的强烈影响。这些过程与东南亚强烈的区域气候强迫及其周期性相耦合，反映在热带辐合带的降水和季风活动的变化上，并对剥蚀强度和河流过程的特征负责。此外，自全新世中期以来，与人类活动有关的环境印记不断增加，这与广泛的环境改善、农业和城市化活动有关。通过对海南岛西部和南部几个露头的分析，实现了沉积学、地球化学、矿物学和孢粉学资料的复杂地质环境解释。在南岗河、通天河、渚碧河和白沙河下游河段以及杨浦村附近的红树林平原（儋州湾）和峨眉海相梯田进行了实地调查。富有机质沉积物的出现使我们能够进行AMS 14C定年，并将获得的结果与湖-河流地层的OSL年龄相关联，最终能够重建过去13万年发生的环境变化。所提供的数据推断了晚更新世-全新世期间下游河段和红树林对局地海平面波动的不同时空响应。根据沉积物的质地特征、河流切口的地貌特征和资料的年代地层对比，提出了下游河段的6个主要演化阶段。河流露头的全新世有机泥与近期红树林平原的地球化学相似，Acrostichum、Trespecia和Rhizopora科红树林蕨类植物的比例增加也证明了这一点。中全新世压实有机泥的剥蚀作用强度逐渐减弱，冲积平原阶地形成切口增强，影响了古地层的发掘。新构造运动估计表明，海南西部和南部几条河流搬运的粗质沉积物质影响了“海南三角洲”的形成，特别是在局部海平面上升阶段。

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来源期刊

Quaternary International 地学-地球科学综合

CiteScore

5.60

自引率

4.50%

发文量

336

审稿时长

3 months

期刊介绍： Quaternary International is the official journal of the International Union for Quaternary Research. The objectives are to publish a high quality scientific journal under the auspices of the premier Quaternary association that reflects the interdisciplinary nature of INQUA and records recent advances in Quaternary science that appeal to a wide audience. This series will encompass all the full spectrum of the physical and natural sciences that are commonly employed in solving Quaternary problems. The policy is to publish peer refereed collected research papers from symposia, workshops and meetings sponsored by INQUA. In addition, other organizations may request publication of their collected works pertaining to the Quaternary.