Clay minerals of surface sediments in the South China Sea (SCS) are analyzed with X-ray diffraction, and their transport is explored with a grain size trend analysis (GSTA) model. Results show that clay mineral types in various sedimentary environments have different sediment sources and transport routes. Sediments in the northern SCS (north of 20°N) between the southwest of Taiwan Island and the outer mouth of the Pearl River have high contents of illite and chlorite, which are derived mainly from sediments on Taiwan Island and/or the Yangtze River. Sediments from the Pearl River are characterized by high kaolinite and low smectite content, and most are distributed in the area between the mouth of the Pearl River and northeast of Hainan Island and transported vertically from the continental shelf to the slope. Characterized by high illite content, sediments from Kalimantan Island are transported toward the Nansha Trough. Sediments from Luzon Island are related with volcanic materials, and are transported westwards according to smectite distribution. On the Sunda Shelf, sediments from the Mekong River are transported southeast in the north while sediments from the Indonesian islands are transported northward in the south. Ascertaining surface sediment sources and their transport routes will not only improve understanding of modern transportation and depositional processes, but also aid paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic analysis of the SCS.
Quantitative analysis of radiolarian preservation in surface sediments from different regional environments of the South China Sea (SCS) is discussed in this article for illustrating their relationship. The results show that species diversity and abundance of radiolarian in the surface sediment increase with water depth, indicating no obvious dissolution of radiolarian shell in the deep SCS. Upwelling activity and volcanic eruption are both in favor of radiolarian propagation, and cause the settlement enrichment of radiolarian shell. Whereas, an abnormal reduced radiolarian fauna in deeper slope sediment may result from the remain of turbid flow that brings sediments from shallow area, such as shelf and upper slope. Radiolarian species are mainly composed of tropic-subtropic types, and include some cold or polar species, which indicates that a mistake in paleoceanographic analysis should arise from the monospecific index. However, synthesis radiolarian indexes in sediments may well respond to the ecologic and depositional environments in the SCS.
