Response of sediment grain size composition of the Zhe-Min coastal mud to the sediment load reduction of the Changjiang River entering the sea

Since 1950, the sediment load of the Changjiang River entering the sea has been stepwise decreasing. As the distal mud of the Changjiang River, whether the signal of “sediment load reduction” was recorded in the Zhe-Min coastal mud? If so, how to extract and interpret these sedimentary information? In order to discussing this scientific problem, 5 sediment cores were collected in the Zhe-Min coastal mud; in addition, high resolution grain size analysis (2 mm) was conducted, and four end members were obtained through end-member (EM) model decomposing. Combined with the analysis of the spatial discrepancy in provenance and hydrodynamics of the study area, the specific indicative significance of each EM was revealed: EM1 (with the modal grain size about 2 μm) is originated from extremely fine-grained sediment of the Changjiang River; EM2’s (with the modal grain size about 10 μm) origin is predominated by the Changjiang River, and small part is contributed by the middle and small sized rivers of Zhe-Min coast; EM3 (with the modal grain size about 80 μm) mainly consists of coarse-grain sediment might be provided by Taiwan Warm Current; EM4 (with the modal grain size about 200 μm) is also characterized by coarse-grain sediment, and may be contributed by the Changjiang River. Further analysis indicated that, the EM1 variation was in agreement with the sediment stepwise reduction of the Changjiang River; however, the response intensity gradually decreased from the north to the south. In addition, the hysteresis existed in response time, and the retardation time increased from 4−6 years in the north to 10−14 years in the south. In general, fine-grained sediment could better reflect the Changjiang River catchment change information, and response intensity exhibited significant difference in different areas of the Zhe-Min coastal mud.