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Responses of Geochemical Characteristics for Yellow River Channel Shifts Recorded by the Bohai Bay Sediments in Eastern China during the Last 200 Years

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Abstract

Each diversion of the Yellow River, has a profound impact on sedimentary process in Bohai Bay. We conducted a systematic chemical study of sediments from Bohai Bay in eastern China. Based on the profiles of excess 210Pb and 137Cs activity, and average sedimentation rates, core BHB15 can be divided into four sedimentary stages, which correlate with the Yellow River channel shifts. The average sedimentation rates of the four stages were 0.41, 1.33, 0.35, and 0.32 cm/a, respectively. Pearson correlation and principal component analyzes showed that Zr and Ba indicate the changes in sedimentary sources, and Mn and Cl characterize the sedimentary environment. The responses of the Yellow River channel shifts were successfully reconstructed using geochemical data. The higher Zr and Ba contents showed that the sediments in Bohai Bay were significantly influenced by the Luanhe River and Haihe River before 1855. The channel shifts marked by the high Cl and low Mn contents during 1901–1929 and 1964–1976 suggested an influence of more saline water, supplied as a possible result of marine transgression during certain time periods and changed the oxidation-reduction environment. The study of chemical elements provided more reliable and detailed information for Yellow River channel shifts.

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Funding

This research was supported financially by National Natural Science Foundation of China (nos. 41702185, U1706220, 41901102), the Foundation of School and Land Integration Development in Yantai (no. 2021XDRHXMQT18), Humanity and Social Science Foundation of Ministry of Education of China (no. 19YJCZH171), the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (no. ZR2019PD013), Supported by State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment (2022SKL005), the open foundation of CAS Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, YICCAS (no. 2020KGJJ10), the open foundation of State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, CAS (no. SKLLQG2024). Youth Innovation Team Project for Talent Introduction and Cultivation in Universities of Shandong Province, Key project of Undergraduate Teaching Reform in Shandong Province (Z2021177), the Teaching Research Foundation of Ludong University (2020J140), Key project of Research and Development program in Shandong Province (2021RKY07122).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Coast Institute of Ludong University, 264025, Yantai, China

    Wang Xiaohui, Wang Longsheng, Meng Liwei, Zeng Lin, Cui Buli, Zhan Chao, Liu Xianbin & Wang Qing

  2. Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research (YIC), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), 264003, Yantai, China

    Wang Longsheng

  3. State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 710061, Xi’an, China

    Wang Longsheng

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  1. Wang Xiaohui
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Wang Xiaohui, Longsheng, W., Liwei, M. et al. Responses of Geochemical Characteristics for Yellow River Channel Shifts Recorded by the Bohai Bay Sediments in Eastern China during the Last 200 Years. Geochem. Int. 60, 1462–1471 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0016702922130092

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