Environmental record from the mud area on the inner continental shelf of the East China Sea since the midHolocene

摘要

Paleoclimate record was revealed in Core MZ01 covering the mid-Holocene in age,located in the mud area of the inner continental shelf of the East China Sea. The ancient environment featured low-energy shallow sea shelf deposition formed mainly by coastal currents. The results show that temporal variation in geochemistry corresponds with the climate changes inferred from historical record. Relatively low MgO/Al 2 O 3,CaO/K 2 O and high Al 2 O 3 /Na 2 O,K 2 O/Na 2 O,MnO/CaO values reflected a warm and humid climate in general,and vice versa. Therefore,these chemical indices could be applied to identify the variation of palaeoclimate in eastern China. The authors reconstructed the history of mid-Holocene climatic variation of the inner continental shelf of the East China Sea. From 8 300 a BP to 4 200 a BP,the climate was moderately warm and humid. From 4 200 a BP to 2 000 a BP,the climate turned cool and dry,and the regional climate frequently fluctuated in alternation of cool-dry periods(3 700 a BP,2 850 a BP and 2 400 a BP) and warm-wet periods(3 250 a BP and 2 650 a BP) . After 2 000 a BP,the climate of the study area gradually turned warm again,while the Little Ice Age,a cold event centered at around 250 a BP was indicated by those geochemical indices as mentioned above.