Heavy Mineral Variability in the Yellow River Sediments as Determined by the Multiple-Window Strategy

Jin, Bingfu; Wang, Mengyao; Wei, Yaru; Zhang, Lina; Wang, Yanjun

doi:10.3390/min9020085

Cited by 14 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…To analyse the morphology of detrital zircon grains, the size fraction of very fine sand (63-125 µm) was chosen because it contained a high percentage of heavy minerals in the Yangtze sediment, which allowed for the relatively easy optical observation of mineral grains [3]. The separation of heavy minerals abided by the standard procedures described by [37].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Large river deltas and marginal seas receive large quantities terrigenous sediments, making them ideal sites for the study of source-to-sink systems and land-sea interaction on multiple spatiotemporal scales [1][2][3]. In order to carry out source identification effectively, multiple technical means including bulk-sediment geochemistry, heavy minerals analysis, and single-mineral in situ analysis are widely applied [4][5][6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Morphology of Detrital Zircon as a Fingerprint to Trace Sediment Provenance: Case Study of the Yangtze Delta

et al. 2019

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Deltaic areas and marginal seas are important archives that document information on regional tectonic movement, sea level rise, river evolution, and climate change. Here, sediment samples from boreholes of the Yangtze Delta and the modern Yangtze drainage were collected. A quantitative analysis of detrital zircon morphology was used to discuss the provenance evolution of the Yangtze Delta. This research demonstrated that a dramatic change in sediment provenance occurred in the transition from the Pliocene to Quaternary. Zircon grains in the Pliocene sediments featured euhedral crystals with large elongation (>3 accounted for 13.2%) and were closely matched to tributary samples in the Lower Yangtze (>3 accounted for 11.3%), suggesting sediment provenance from the proximal river basin. However, most detrital zircon grains of the Quaternary samples exhibited lower values of elongation and increased roundness (rounded grains were 9.4%), which was similar to those found in the modern Yangtze mainstream (rounded grains were 12.5%) and the middle tributaries (rounded grains were 7.0%). The decrease in zircon elongation and improvement of its roundness in the Quaternary strata implied that the Yangtze Delta received sediments of different provenance that originated from the Middle-Upper Yangtze basin due to the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau. Statistical analysis of detrital zircon morphology has proven useful for studying the source-to-sink of sediments.Minerals 2019, 9, 438 2 of 15 intuitively determine zircon parent rocks and are potential fingerprints to be applied in sediment provenance analysis [13][14][15][16][17].Serving as an important depocenter of the Eastern China, the Yangtze Delta has preserved valuable information on sediment sources related to landform and river evolution [5,18,19]. Using different methods of clay mineral analysis, geochemistry, magnetic properties, single mineral geochronology (zircon, monazite age spectra), previous studies have identified a significant change in sediment provenance at the Pliocene-Quaternary transition [20][21][22][23]. However, sediment provenance evolution in the deltaic area is still controversial [22]. There is neither a consensus about the exact source of the Pliocene strata in the Yangtze Delta nor about the time when the Upper Yangtze sediments arrived at the delta. Different studies proposed that the Upper Yangtze sediment arrived either early in the Pliocene [21,24], in the Early-Middle Pleistocene [22,23,[25][26][27], or later in the late Pleistocene [28,29]. For these previous studies, only one borehole was used to represent the entire area of the Yangtze Delta, which may have resulted in different interpretations due to the limitations of the different methods. This is not only because of the vast area of Yangtze Delta but also because of its complex sedimentary strata.In order to extract the exact sediment provenance, several boreholes in different regions of the study area should be systematically analysed and compared to potential source sediments within ...

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphology of Detrital Zircon as a Fingerprint to Trace Sediment Provenance: Case Study of the Yangtze Delta

et al. 2019

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“…After drying in the oven with a temperature of <40 • C, the very fine sand and coarse silt fractions were then put into a sodium polytungstate solution (2.90 kg/dm 3 at 20 • C; e.g., [5,21,28]) and heavy minerals were separated from the light fraction by the gravity separation method (e.g., [14,29]). The content of the heavy minerals (HMC) is calculated as the total mass of the heavy mineral fraction contained in the analyzed fraction [30].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Chemical Composition and Surface Texture of Transparent Heavy Minerals from Core LQ24 in the Changjiang Delta

et al. 2019

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The assessment of textural and compositional modifications of detrital sediments is required to reconstruct past source to sink dynamics. The Changjiang Delta is an ideal location to study the sedimentary environment from the Pliocene to Quaternary transition. In the present study, we aim to decipher the response of heavy minerals to mechanical wear and chemical weathering since the Pliocene. With the application of a scanning electron microscope and an electron probe, the geochemistry and surface texture of different heavy minerals (amphibole, epidote, and tourmaline groups) with grain-size fractions of 32–63 µm and 63–125 µm were studied. The result shows that the surface texture of unstable minerals (amphibole, epidote) changed under strong chemical weathering in the Pliocene sediments. By contrast, unstable minerals of the Pleistocene sediments are relatively fresh and similar to those of the modern Changjiang sediment. The stable mineral tourmaline does not exhibit morphology changes in different chemical weathering conditions. No effect of grain size on geochemical composition is noticed. The single minerals of very fine sand and coarse silt show similar geochemical and morphological features. The integration of mineralogy, geochemical data, and grain size parameters yield a more precise understanding of the physical and chemical response of heavy minerals to different weathering conditions. The outcome of the study is also helpful in deciphering sediment provenance changes and environmental changes in the Changjiang basin.

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“…Consequently, the horizons that are enriched in authigenic pyrite likely correspond to high RSL periods with paleo-cold water mass and muddy deposition, which was not developed exclusively in the Holocene (Wang et al, 2014b;Mei et al, 2016). Conversely, horizons enriched with flake minerals, which are characteristic minerals of the Yellow River, may indicate that the paleo-Yellow River was close to the study area with a lower RSL (Figure 4G; Qin et al, 2018;Jin et al, 2019).…”

Section: Mis3a (45-25 Kyr)mentioning

confidence: 97%

“…As previously mentioned, detrital mineral ratios are a more effective method for provenance discrimination. The Yellow River is characterized by more hornblende and garnet, while the Yangtze River contains more epidote and sphene (Wang et al, 2007;Jin et al, 2019). There are similar qualities between hornblende and epidote, as well as garnet and sphene.…”

Section: Qualitative Discrimination Of Provenances Using Heavy Minera...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Distinctive Sedimentary Evolution at the East Edge of the Central Yellow Sea Mud Over the Past 45 kyr: Evidence From Detrital Mineralogy

et al. 2022

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The central Yellow Sea Mud (CYSM) is a vital part of the coastal sand and distal mud depositional system in the South Yellow Sea (SYS). Previous studies concerning the sedimentary evolution of this area have almost exclusively concentrated on its interior during the Holocene instead of its periphery. In this study, we used a sediment core (H10), with a significantly slow sedimentary rate, to reconstruct the sedimentary evolution at the east edge of the CYSM since MIS3a (∼45 kyr). This mainly involved using detrital minerals, the chemical compositions of garnet, and grain size. The provenance of coarser sediments has remarkable Yellow River-derived characteristics, especially during MIS2 and MIS1. The sedimentary evolution was primarily controlled by hydrodynamic regimes accompanied by changes in relative sea levels (RSLs) and climates. During MIS3a, frequent RSL fluctuations and powerful tidal current erosion were responsible for two facie shifts from the neritic sea to the shore and the lower sedimentary rate in the study area. A paleo-cold water mass and muddy deposition occurred during the high RSL stages with authigenic pyrite enrichment. During MIS2, the paleo-Yellow River was distributed on the SYS and flowed through the study area. Fluvial deposition on the shelf may be eroded by the strong winter monsoon, with an extremely dry and cold climate. Since ∼9.6 kyr, intense hydrodynamic regimes, which were induced by tidal current and upwelling, were responsible for the very much thin deposition, and coarser sediments remained in the study area. Notably, combined with previously studied cores, a much more detailed and intuitional cognition for CYSM formation can be obtained via our special perspective: mud periphery. This study elucidates the sedimentary system evolution and mud area formation of continental shelf seas.

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Heavy Mineral Variability in the Yellow River Sediments as Determined by the Multiple-Window Strategy

Cited by 14 publications

References 47 publications

Morphology of Detrital Zircon as a Fingerprint to Trace Sediment Provenance: Case Study of the Yangtze Delta

Morphology of Detrital Zircon as a Fingerprint to Trace Sediment Provenance: Case Study of the Yangtze Delta

The Chemical Composition and Surface Texture of Transparent Heavy Minerals from Core LQ24 in the Changjiang Delta

Distinctive Sedimentary Evolution at the East Edge of the Central Yellow Sea Mud Over the Past 45 kyr: Evidence From Detrital Mineralogy

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