Cross-Front Sediment Transport Induced by Quick Oscillation of the Yellow Sea Warm Current: Evidence From the Sedimentary Record

The geochemical analysis of sediment in the northern North Yellow Sea shows that the sediment derived from the Yellow River could penetrate the Yellow Sea Warm Current and mingle with Yalu River-derived sediment in coastal areas. Further analysis indicates that the relative variations in coastal currents and the Yellow Sea Warm Current, which are regulated by the winter monsoon, dominate the process of cross-front transport. This suggests a dynamic mechanism involving cross-front sediment transport. During a period of strong northwesterly wind, the sediment derived from the Yellow River north of the Shandong Peninsula could disperse across the fronts in the surface layer, and when the wind subsides, sediments are delivered northward by barotropic current. This dynamic mechanism for sediment exchange in the North Yellow Sea can explain the multiple sediment sources found in the Yellow Sea, and it has implications for cross-front transport on a global scale.