Sediment source-to-sink patterns along the southeast China coast during the late Quaternary: New insights from sediment geochemistry and OSL ages in Ningde Bay

The geomorphology and environmental conditions of the southeast China coast are significantly influenced by sediment discharge from the Yangtze River, a major river located to the north. Nonetheless, the extent to which the Yangtze River affects sediment transport processes from source to sink along the southeast coast remains unclear. Our recent findings in coastal/marine deposits from the late Quaternary period (MIS5e, MIS3, and MIS1) in Ningde Bay offer new perspectives on this issue. Provenance discrimination of the late Quaternary boreholes was carried out using sediment geochemical analysis and OSL dating of fine- and medium-grained quartz. The results indicate varying provenances during sea-level fluctuation, with distal Yangtze River origins during MIS5e, MIS3, and MIS1, and a local source during MIS4. The findings also suggest that the southward transport of Yangtze sediments along the southeast China coast has occurred since MIS5e. However, OSL ages of the fine-grained quartz in the MIS3 deposit range from approximately 90 to 140 kyr, notably older than those of medium-grained quartz (40–80 kyr). This remarkable age discrepancy indicates that Yangtze-derived sediments previously deposited on the shelf of the East China Sea during MIS5 were reworked and transported southward in MIS3. This phenomenon can be elucidated by the insufficient supply of Yangtze sediments during MIS3, which could be linked to the weakened East Asian monsoon. This new source-to-sink pattern for the southeast China coast is characterized by a compensating mechanism of inner shelf old sediment in response to the inadequate supply of Yangtze sediments. This study contributes to a better understanding of the significant impacts of reduced Yangtze sediment input on its distal sedimentary systems over time.