Distributions of Radiolarian Diversity and Abundance in Surface Sediments of the South China Sea and Their Environmental Implications
详细信息
- 责任者：Chen Muhong (CAS Key Laboratory of Marginal Sea Geology ; South China Sea Institute of Oceanology ; Guangzhou 510301 ; China) ; Zhang Lanlan
- 刊名：Earth Science
- 出版年：2012
- 卷期：37(4)
- 关键词：重力流沉积 ; gravity flow deposit ; 沉积体系 ; depositional system ; 南海 ; South China Sea
- 页码：p.627-634
- 图表：illus., 27 refs.
- 分类号：0830
- issnNo：ISSN1000-2383
- isbnNo：CN42-1233/P
摘要
The South China Sea （SCS） has relatively complete physiographical units and ecologic environments, where there are a lot of preservative radiolarian species and specimens in the sediments. Methods of quantitative statistics and clustering were used to analyze the radiolarian assemblages in surface sediments of the SCS, to understand their compositions and distributions. Results of clustering analyses show that the radiolarian assemblages in the SCS surface sediments may mainly he grouped as five types, including assemblages of shallow shelf, coral slope, central basin, southern rich nutrition and summer upwelling, corresponding to different special marine environments with certain radiolarian communities of dominant species. It is also indicated that the north, central and south of the SCS present as three areas of different ecologic conditions, such as the northern sea area affected mostly by terrigenous input, central sea area controlled mainly by the central basin waters, submarine volcanic and summer upwelling activities and the southern sea area falls obviously into a typical coral environ- ment, where there is a better ecologic and sedimental environment for radiolarian existing than that in the northern sea area. The radiolarian assemblages and distributions in the SCS surface sediments well reflect different marine ecologic conditions and sedimental environments, which may be used as reliable evidences for paleoceanographic explanation.