Éditeur(s) : Elsevier
Résumé : The Okinawa Trough is a natural laboratory for the study of later Quaternary land-ocean interaction and paleoenvironmental changes. In this study we reconstruct the evolution of clay mineral assemblages in Core DGKS9604 retrieved from the central Okinawa Trough. Illite dominates the clay mineral compositions, with average contents above 60%. Clay mineral evolution since 28 ka is closely related to changes in sediment provenance and paleoenvironment. Sea level rise and the strength of the Kuroshio Current control the dispersal and deposition of clays on the East China Sea shelf and in the Okinawa Trough, and thus, determine the clay mineral compositions in the core sediments. During the late last glacial period (28.0-14.0 ka), the paleo-Changjiang River mouth was situated at the shelf edge close to the central Okinawa Trough and thus, together with the outer shelf, supplied large volumes of terrigenous sediments directly into the trough. From 14.0 to 8.4 ka influence from the Changjiang decreased while the mid-outer shelf of the East China Sea became the dominant sediment source to the central Okinawa Trough as sea level rose and the Changjiang river mouth migrated west. Strong sediment reworking and erosion at the shelf edge at 15-13 ka significantly increased the lateral transport of fine-grained shelf sediments to the central Okinawa Trough. Since ca. 8.4 ka clays from Taiwan have dominated the sediment flux to the site, coinciding with the re-entry of the Kuroshio Current into the trough. The increasing influence of the Changjiang-sourced sediments since 1.5 ka was probably related to the weakening of the Kuroshio Current and/or a higher river flux. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology (0031-0182) (Elsevier), 2010-03 , Vol. 288 , N. 1-4 , P. 108-117

Droits : 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00002/11367/7977.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.01.040
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00002/11367/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD University of Arizona
Résumé : International audience
Taiwan is a young and seismically active mountain belt, where a series of strong earthquakes (M>7) have occurred over the past hundred years. Identifying historical earthquakes around Taiwan is a key to better constrain the geodynamic of this active region. Sedimentological and geochemical analyses of surface sediments from one station offshore east Taiwan revealed the presence of coarse-grained layers interpreted as turbidites. The age of these layers have been determined by 210Pb, 137Cs, and 241Am chronology. Dating of the three most recent turbidites provides ages of AD 2001±3, AD 1950±5, and AD 1928±10. The results show striking temporal correspondence of turbidite layers to large (M≥6.8) earthquakes recorded in the region since the 20th century. The chronologies of sediment layers lead us to believe that turbidites resulted from the 2003 Taitung earthquake (M 6.8), the 1951 Chengkong earthquake (M 7.1), and the 1935 Lutao earthquake (M 7.0), respectively. Such a good correlation between turbidites and high-magnitude (M≥6.8) historical and instrumental seismic events suggests that turbidite paleoseismology constitutes a valuable tool for earthquake assessment in the eastern Taiwan margin. Moreover, the modern reservoir radiocarbon age and the regional marine reservoir correction (ΔR) of the Kuroshio Current off Taiwan were estimated by comparing accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C ages with ages derived from corrected 210Pb profiles and historical accounts of identifiable seismic events. Such a determination is important to calibrate the 14C ages of marine materials for accurate comparison of marine and continental geological records. Our calculated mean ΔR value of 232±54 14C yr (n=2) is higher than its modern value of 86±40 14C yr. This high value can be explained by the presence of local upwelling cells and turbulence in the Kuroshio Current, north of Green Island. These upwelling cells bring 14C-depleted water to the surface, resulting in an increase of the modern ΔR value in this portion of the Kuroshio Current.
ISSN: 0033-8222

hal-01306986
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01306986
DOI : 10.1017/RDC.2015.3

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We have discovered in a marine core, located 20 km east of the Coastal Range of Taiwan at the top of a 1200 m deep submarine high, sheltered from rivers discharges and gravitational flows, a 23 cm-thick anomalous sequence topped with broken bivalves and wood fragments. Based on radiocarbon dating, we distinguish five sub-events within ∼ 100 yrs, about 3000 years ago. The oldest four sub-events are interpreted as the record of local submarine landslides, likely triggered by clustered earthquakes that are common in this tectonically active area. The last event including shells and wood has a different origin. Despite the high level of climatic and tectonic recent activity, no comparable event has been observed at the same site since that time, making it unique during the last 3.75 ka. Hydrodynamical modeling stimulated with a set of submarine landslide-triggered tsunami sources and combined with the regional oceanic circulation dominated by the Kuroshio Current, allow us to better constrain the transport paths of the suspended material, the expected run-up at the coast, and ultimately the trigger and source that best fit our observations. The Kuroshio Current appears as a strong constraint that generally prevents cross-shore transport of suspended material even during a major tsunami. Since the largest aerial debris flow observed along the east coast of Taiwan during the last 4 ka was synchronous with the marine deposit, our preferred scenario starts with the occurrence of four distinct large earthquakes within less than a century, triggering both submarine and aerial landslides in the study area. Then, a giant typhoon reworked the nearshore material as well as the slided material stored upstream resulting in a debris flow. It deeply modified the surface current, allowing the wood debris and shells to fastly reach the core site.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-01467640
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01467640
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2015.11.001

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier Science Bv
Résumé : The late Quaternary paleoceanography and paleoenvironment in the Okinawa Trough, East China Sea, have been well reconstructed over the last decade, while in contrast the provenance of terrigenous sediments that have accumulated there remains enigmatic. In this study, rare earth elements (REE) were used to investigate provenance changes in sediments from Core DGKS9604, taken from the middle Okinawa Trough. Discrimination plots based on REE fractionation parameters suggest that the cored sediments have variable provenances over the last 30 ka, with the lower part (ca. 31-8.2 ka) ultimately originating mostly from the Changjiang (Yangtze River) and the upper part (7.1-0 ka) primarily from Taiwan. During the Last Glacial Maximum and early deglacial period, sea level was low and the main stream of the Kuroshio Current was deflected to the east of the Ryukyu Islands. As a result the Changjiang-derived sediments might have dominated sedimentation of the middle Okinawa Trough. However, since about 7 ka the main stream of the Kuroshio Current strengthened in the area of the trough, as sea level approximated the modern position. This caused near-bottom transport of fine-grained sediments from the continental margin to the trough to become weak and instead, Taiwan-derived terrigenous sediments dominated in the middle trough. The changing provenances of terrigenous sediments into the middle Okinawa Trough are closely related to the evolution of oceanic circulation and sea level in the East China Sea. Two tephra layers in the core have distinct REE compositions and correlate well with two volcanic eruptions at 7.6 and 25.8 ka in southern Japan. (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V.
Marine Geology (0025-3227) (Elsevier Science Bv), 2010-09 , Vol. 275 , N. 1-4 , P. 212-220

Droits : 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00013/12459/9402.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.margeo.2010.06.002
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00013/12459/