Stratigraphic Division Based on Minor Elements in the Sediment Core Q43 from the Outer Shelf of the East China Sea:Approached Through Correspondence Analysis and Fuzzy Cluster Analysis

摘要

The multivariate statistical techniques, principal component analysis, Q-mode factor analysis, correspondence analysis and fuzzy C-means clustering were applied to analyzing the datasets of minor element concentrations in sediment samples of a core collected from the outer shelf of the East China Sea. According to the analysis results, the sediment core Q43 can be divided into three strata with different features in minor elements. The first stratum (unit Ⅰ) is characterized by higher concentrations of V, Cr, Cd and Sc, which are active and inactive elements. The second stratum (unit Ⅱ) is controlled by ultrastable elements V, Ti, Cr, Th, Sc, Pb, etc. The third stratum (unit Ⅲ) is dominated by Ni, Co, Ba, Rb and Mn, which are authigenic and volcanogenic elements. The geochemical features of the core Q43 show environmental changes in the depositional process from the Late Pleistocene to Holocene.