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Earth-Science Reviews 63 (2003) 93–120

A review on the provenance discrimination of sediments

in the Yellow Sea

Shou Ye Yanga,b,*, Hoi Soo Jungb, Dhong Il Limb, Cong Xian Lia

aLaboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, ChinabMarine Environment and Climate Change Laboratory, Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute, Ansan P.O. Box 29,

Seoul 425-600, South Korea

Received 24 January 2002; accepted 7 February 2003

Abstract

The Yellow Sea has been extensively studied for the understanding of dispersal patterns and limits of sediments from

neighboring countries including China and Korea. Although sedimentological, mineralogical, and geochemical approaches have

been tried to solve the problems, especially including the identification of sediment sources in and around the Yellow Sea, the

published results are not enough for understanding them. Suggestions on sediment origins, budgets, sediment accumulation rates,

mineralogical, and geochemical compositions are not coincident to each other and sometimes even controversial; for example,

conflicts on the distribution patterns of smectite and calcium carbonate, the provenance of the southeastern Yellow Sea mud and

sedimentation rates in there, the ratios of V/Al and Mn/Al in Korea and China river sediments, the origin of Ba and Pb in sandy

sediments of the northeastern Yellow Sea, and so on.

Various geochemical indicators from the literature for the provenance discrimination in the Yellow Sea are reviewed here in

depth, and corresponding discussions are described separately. Research topics for the future study, also, are suggested for the

proper access to the understanding of the origin and dispersal patterns of the Yellow Sea sediments, especially focusing on the

geochemical approaches.

D 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Provenance discrimination; Yellow Sea; Sediment; Geochemistry

1. Introduction

The Yellow Sea, a typical semi-enclosed epiconti-

nental sea, rests on a flat, broad, and tectonically

stable seafloor with water depth of average 55 m

0012-8252/03/$ - see front matter D 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All right

doi:10.1016/S0012-8252(03)00033-3

* Corresponding author. Laboratory of Marine Geology,

Department of Marine Geology and Geophysics, Tongji University,

1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China. Tel.: +86-21-6598-

2208; fax: +86-21-6502-5320.

E-mail address: syyang@online.sh.cn (S.Y. Yang).

and maximum 100 m (Fig. 1). The Yellow Sea is

separated from the Bohai Sea at its northern extremity

by the Shandong Peninsula, and from the East China

Sea to the south by an arbitrary line connecting the

north of the Changjiang (Yangtze) river mouth with

Cheju Island. The Yellow Sea is characterized by huge

deltas of the Changjiang (Yangtze River) and the

Huanghe (Yellow River) in the western part (China

side), while by numerous ria-type bays, indented

islands, and a long stretch of tidal flat in the eastern

part (Korea side).

s reserved.

Fig. 1. Bathymetric chart of the Yellow Sea. Isobaths are in meters. Note that the major Chinese and Korean rivers entering into the Yellow Sea.

S.Y. Yang et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 63 (2003) 93–12094

The Yellow Sea has attracted many research sub-

jects and common concerns not only because of its

striking paleo-environmental changes during late Qua-

ternary and huge discharges from the neighboring

rivers (mostly from the Changjiang and the Huanghe),

about 10% of the world river sediment load (Milliman

and Meade, 1983), but of high biological productivity

and the role as an important fishing ground (Deng and

Yang, 1993; Wu et al., 2001), and moreover, rapidly

increasing environmental pressure of huge amount of

pollutants on marine ecosystem (Wu, 1993; Hong et

al., 1997; Ma et al., 2001; Wu et al., 2001). Over the

past decade, the Yellow Sea, especially nearshore

areas, has been highly contaminated by inorganic-

nitrogen, reactive-phosphate (PO43 �), heavy metals

(especially for Pb) and organic pollutants (DDT,

PCB, PAH) (Wu, 1993; Hong et al., 1997; Xu et al.,

2000; Ma et al., 2001; Wu et al., 2001). With the call

for sustainable development and marine environmen-

tal conservation, it is of great significance in the

present day to speed up the comprehensive under-

standing of the Yellow Sea.

Although several hundreds papers on the Yellow

Sea have been published in international and domestic

journals, it is very difficult and time-consuming to

collect and understand these papers, especially pub-

lished in local journals written in Chinese or Korean.

On the other hand, only about 50 research papers are

published in international journals during the last 20

years, discussing mostly sedimentology and oceanog-

raphy, and partly geochemistry of the Yellow Sea. Most

of them are the products of international research

cooperation programs conducted mostly by China,

Korea, and western countries including USA after

1960.

In a sense, the Yellow Sea seems to be one of the

most thoroughly studied marginal seas in the north-

western Pacific. However, many aspects of the Yellow

Sea are poorly understood so far. For example, most of

the Yellow Sea sediments, including the sediments

close to the west Korea Peninsula, have been consid-

ered to be derived primarily from the Huanghe and

partly from the Changjiang, based intuitively on the

huge sediment discharges from both rivers (Ren and

S.Y. Yang et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 63 (2003) 93–120 95

Shi, 1986; Milliman et al., 1985a,b, 1987; Qin et al.,

1989; Alexander et al., 1991a; Park et al., 2000).

However, there is no direct or proper evidence on the

supply of Chinese river sediments to the Korean coast.

On the contrary, some Korean scientists suggested that

sediments in the eastern Yellow Sea are supplied

mostly from Korean rivers (Chough and Kim, 1981;

Lee and Chough, 1989; Park and Khim, 1992; Jin and

Chough, 1998; Chough et al., 2000, 2002; Lee and

Chu, 2001). Similarly, the ocean circulation and sedi-

ment transport patterns in the Yellow Sea are also

intractable problems and remain controversial, despite

the wide documentation on these hot issues from many

aspects such as satellite data, circulation models,

oceanographic in situ measurements, and high-resolu-

tion seismic stratigraphy (Milliman et al., 1986; Dong

et al., 1989; Hu and Li, 1993; Lee et al., 1998, 2000;

Ahn et al., 1999; Kim and Kucera, 2000; Naimie et al.,

2001; Chough et al., 2002). In this context, more

substantial researches are required for detailing ‘‘the

problem Yellow Sea’’ and first of all, a comprehensive

review on sediment dispersal and provenance discrim-

ination are necessary.

The specific objectives of this paper are: (1) to

review the generals of sedimentary processes in the

Yellow Sea, (2) to fully analyze reported data and

discuss the geochemical approaches for discriminating

the sediment origin in the Yellow Sea, and (3) to

suggest the future geochemical research topics for

the advanced understanding of origin and dispersal

systems of the Yellow Sea sediments.

2. Generals of the Yellow Sea

2.1. General physiographic and oceanographic

features

The Yellow Sea, linking the contiguous China–

Korea landmasses, covers an area of about 400,000

km2 (Qin et al., 1989). The seafloor deepens progres-

sively southeastward with asymmetrical isobaths and

forms a SE–NW shallow trough (called the Yellow

Sea Trough) in its southern extremity with a maximum

water depth of 100 m (Fig. 1, Qin et al., 1989). The

western parts of the Yellow Sea are surrounded by

rock-embayed coast in the north and extensive mudflat

coast in the southwest, whereas the eastern side is

fringed by numerous islands bounded by tidal flats

along the Korean coast (Wang and Aubrey, 1987; Lee

et al., 1988; Qin et al., 1989; Chough et al., 2000).

Typical East Asian monsoon in the Yellow Sea

causes southerly and southwesterly winds during sum-

mer, northerly and northeasterly winds during winter.

Storms are frequent and wind-induced currents and

waves are dominant during winter. Residence time for

the shelf water of the Yellow Sea was estimated to be

about 2.3 years (Nozaki, 1989) or 5–6 years (Sohrin et

al., 1999). Tides are typically semi-diurnal (M2) in the

Yellow Sea ranging from 1.5 to 8 m (Chough et al.,

2000), and rates of tidal currents vary from lower than

40 cm/s in the central parts of the north and south

Yellow Sea to larger than 100 cm/s in the southwest

and northeast Yellow Sea (Dong et al., 1989; Qin et al.,

1989). Tide range is generally higher than 3 m and up

to 8 m along west Korean coast, and about 2–4 m

along Chinese coast (Dong et al., 1989). Tidal currents

in the eastern Yellow Sea flow northward during flood,

while mostly south or southwestward during ebb (Park

and Lee, 1994; Lee and Chu, 2001). Algorithm model

and oceanographic in situ observations revealed the

leading factor of tidal current on controlling the sedi-

ment resuspension, transport, and deposition in the

Yellow Sea (Wells, 1988; Dong et al., 1989; Lee and

Chu, 2001). Weak tidal currents in the central parts of

the north and south Yellow Sea are responsible for

muddy deposits in there, whereas strong tidal currents

account for sandy zones in the northwest, southwest,

and northeast areas of the Yellow sea (Dong et al.,

1989; Gao et al., 1996).

Early in 1930s, Uda firstly studied the circulation

pattern in the Yellow Sea (Uda, 1934). Two general

circulation patterns in the Yellow Sea are reported as a

basin-size counterclockwise (cyclonic) gyre with

northward inflow of the Yellow Sea Warm Current

(YSWC) along the eastern margin, and a southward

inflow of the Jiangsu Coastal Current (JSCC) or the

Yellow Sea Coastal Current (YSCC) along the west

coast (Fig. 2, Beardsley et al., 1985; Hu and Li, 1993).

In the eastern part, a clockwise gyre consists of the

YSWC and a southward inflow of the Korea Coastal

Current (KCC). It is generally regarded that the

YSWC is a branch of Tsushima Current (TC) and/or

Taiwan Warm Current (TWC) with high temperature

and salinity, flowing roughly northward along the

Yellow Sea Trough and penetrating to the Bohai Sea,

Fig. 2. Schematic map of the regional circulation patterns in the Yellow Sea (modified after Beardsley et al., 1985; Park and Khim, 1992; Hu and

Li, 1993; Guan, 1994; Chough et al., 2000). BCC: Bohai Coastal Current; LDCC: Liaodong Coastal Current; KCC: Korea Coastal Current;

YSCC: Yellow Sea Coastal Current; YSWC: Yellow Sea Warm Current; CDFW: Changjiang Diluted Freshwater; TC: Tushima Current; YSCW:

Yellow Sea Cold Water.

S.Y. Yang et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 63 (2003) 93–12096

especially in the winter season (Uda, 1934; Beardsley

et al., 1985; Hu and Li, 1993; Guan, 1994). However,

it is currently considered as a return flow compensat-

ing the wind-driven southward flow in winter (Naimie

et al., 2001), or a nonpersistent mixed water originated

from the interaction front of the TC and continental

water of the East China Sea (Lie, 1999). Moreover, the

path of the YSWC has obvious seasonal and interan-

nual variations (Lie, 1999), and mostly turns around

north of Cheju Island (Lee et al., 2000). The flux of

fine-grained sediment carried by the YSWC is esti-

mated to be of the order of 106 tons/year (Gao et al.,

1996). The KCC, flowing southward along 40–50-m

isobaths of the east Yellow sea, exerts a great control

on sediment transport in the east coast (Chough and

Kim, 1981; Wells, 1988; Lee and Chough, 1989; Park

and Khim, 1992; Jin and Chough, 1998; Lee and Chu,

2001).

The Yellow Sea Cold Water (YSCW)—a water

mass considered as a remnant of winter cooling and

mixing and observed in the deeper locations during

summer—is another protruding feature in the Yellow

Sea (Hu and Li, 1993; Naimie et al., 2001). It is

suggested that downwelling exists in the upper layer

and upwelling in the lower layer of the YSCW (Hu and

Li, 1993). The most significant freshwater discharge

into the Yellow Sea is from the Changjiang with the

largest water discharge in China. The Changjiang

discharge predominantly flows southeastward along

Chinese coast during winter, while during summer, the

Changjiang Diluted Freshwater (CDFW) extends as a

low salinity plume to the northeast in the direction of

Cheju Island (Fig. 2, Beardsley et al., 1985). Gener-

ally, the CDFW cannot reach the areas east or northeast

beyond 123jE (Hu and Li, 1993; Zhang, 1999; Gao et

al., 2000). Recent researches, however, suggested that

the turbid water from the Changjiang estuary might

disperse farther, and mix with the waters of South Sea

around Cheju Island (Lee et al., 1998; Ahn et al.,

1999).

ence Reviews 63 (2003) 93–120 97

2.2. Major rivers around the Yellow Sea

The rivers around the Yellow Sea bear remarkably

different sizes, water, and sediment discharges (Table

1). Although at present, the Changjiang and the

Huanghe do not directly empty into the Yellow Sea,

they were regarded to have governed the sedimenta-

tion of major parts of the Yellow Sea during Holocene

(Milliman et al., 1985a, 1987; Liu et al., 1987; Ren and

Shi, 1986; Qin et al., 1989; Yang, 1989; Alexander et

al., 1991a,b; Martin et al., 1993; Zhu and An, 1993;

Saito, 1998).

The Huanghe, originated from the Tibetan Plateau,

is located in the north China craton, one of the world’s

oldest Archean cratons (Gao et al., 1998). About 90%

of the Huanghe sediments are derived from the loess

deposits, widely distributed in the middle reaches of

the Huanghe where occupies about half of the whole

Huanghe drainage area (75� 104 km2) (Ren and Shi,

1986; Yang and Li, 2000). The Changjiang drainage

basin, situated on the Yangtze craton and South China

orogen, has complex source rocks. Paleozoic carbo-

nate rock dominates the upper reaches, while acidic–

metamorphic rocks and Quaternary clastic sediments

are widely distributed in the middle and lower reaches

(Qu and Yan, 1990; Zhang et al., 1990; Yang and Li,

2000). Meanwhile, the Korea river basins (Keum, Han,

and Yeongsan Rivers) consist predominantly of Juras-

S.Y. Yang et al. / Earth-Sci

Table 1

General characteristics of rivers around the Yellow Sea

Length (km) Rainfall

(mm/year)

Drainage

area (km2)

Huanghe 5464 460 0.752� 106

Changjiang 6300 1100 1.8� 106

Huaihe 830 894 0.26� 106,

0.13� 106a

Other Chinese

rivers

>40 to f 150 < 800 1.9� 104

Yalujiang 800, 859a 1050 6.1�104

Han River 488 1000–1100c 2.6� 104

Keum River 401 1220c 9.9� 103

Yeongsan River 115 1222c 2.8� 103

a Qin et al. (1989).b Wang and Aubrey (1987).c Chough and Kim (1981).d Chang and Oh (1991).e Hong et al. (2002).f Lee and Chu (2001).

sic and Cretaceous granites and Precambrian gneisses,

partly of limestone, schist, volcanic rocks, and phillites

(Lee et al., 1988; Chough et al., 2000).

The Changjiang and Huanghe are well known by

tremendous sediment loads, about 4.7–5� 108 and

10� 108 tons/year, respectively, based on multi-year

averages (Milliman and Meade, 1983; Hay, 1998;

Yang et al., 1998; Shen et al., 2000). A total about

3000� 109 tons of the Huanghe sediments are reported

to have been supplied to the Yellow and adjacent seas

during the Holocene (Milliman et al., 1987). However,

since 1950s the water and sediment discharges of both

rivers have been dramatically decreased, mostly due to

increasing water consuming and water conservation

constructions (Yang et al., 1998; Pang et al., 1999;

Shen et al., 2000). The flow-cut-off of the Huanghe

downstream happened in 21 years among 26 years

from 1972 to 1998, and the annually averaged water

discharge is about 500� 108 m3 from 1950 to 1969,

about 300� 108 m3 from 1970 to 1989, and below

200� 108 m3 during the 1990s (Pang et al., 1999).

Correspondingly, the sediment load decreased from

12.4� 108 (1953–1963) to 4.95� 108 tons/year

(1986–1994) (Yang et al., 1998). Similarly, the sedi-

ment load of the Changjiang is about 4.63� 108 tons/

year in 1950 and 5.08� 108 tons/year in 1960s, but

only averages 4.36� 108 tons/year in 1980s and

3.45� 108 tons/year in 1990s (Shen et al., 2000).

Water discharge

(109 m3/year)

Suspended sediment

load (106 tons/year)

Data sources

49 1080 Hay, 1998

900 500

64.4 14

30.6 5.2 Qin et al., 1989

34.7, 25a, 28b 2.04, 1.13a, 4.8b Schubel et al.,

1984

25, 19c 4d, 12.4e

5.0, 7c, 5.8e 1.3, 5.6c, 3.95e, 11f

1.6, 2.1e 1.24e

S.Y. Yang et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 63 (2003) 93–12098

It is noteworthy that at present there is no river with

annual sediment discharge of more than 1�108 tons

directly into the Yellow Sea. Total sediment discharge

from small Chinese rivers into the Yellow Sea is less

than 2� 107 tons/year, including the quite discharge

from the Huaihe River (>1�107 tons/year, Table 1).

On the other hand, total sediment discharge from

Korean rivers into the Yellow Sea is relatively meager,

generally less than 1�107 tons/year (Schubel et al.,

1984; Ren and Shi, 1986), even though the estimations

of sediment discharges are much variable depending

on the authors (Table 1). Sediment discharges of

Korean rivers vary significantly seasonally, and have

been reduced greatly by water conservation construc-

tions (Schubel et al., 1984).

2.3. Sediments in the Yellow Sea

Muddy sediments dominate the central part of the

Yellow Sea, while sand and muddy sand blanket the

Fig. 3. A map showing surface sediment distribution in the Yellow Sea a

Central Yellow Sea Mud; (1) NYSM, North Yellow Sea Mud; (2) SEYSM

Sea Mud; (4) SWCIM, Southwestern Cheju Island Mud. Sediment types o

from the literature.

eastern and the western parts of the sea (Fig. 3). Large-

scaled sandy deposits occur in the southwestern Yel-

low Sea, forming a unique radial tidal sand ridges

system (RTSRS, Li et al., 2001), which is considered

as a remnant deposit of winnowing by tidal currents

(Liu et al., 1989; Yang, 1989; Li et al., 2001). The

northeastern Yellow Sea is floored with coarse-grained

transgressive sandy deposits formed during the last

postglacial sea-level rise (Lee et al., 1988; Chough et

al., 2000), resulting in ubiquitous tidal sand ridges

therein (Klein et al., 1982; Chough et al., 2000).

Four mud zones are well defined in the Yellow Sea:

(1) the central Yellow Sea mud (CYSM, called by Park

and Khim, 1992; Park et al., 2000), (2) the southeastern

Yellow Sea mud (SEYSM, Park and Khim, 1992; Park

et al., 2000) or the Huksan Mud Belt (HMB, Lee and

Chu, 2001), (3) the southwestern Yellow Sea mud off

the northern Jiangsu coast (SWYSM, in this study) or

old Huanghe Delta Mud (OHDM, Park et al., 2000),

and (4) the northern Yellow Sea mud (NYSM, Cheng,

nd adjacent areas (modified after Lee and Chough, 1989). CYSM:

, Southeastern Yellow Sea Mud; (3) SWYSM, Southwestern Yellow

ff the coast of the North Korea remain unclear and are not available

S.Y. Yang et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 63 (2003) 93–120 99

2000; Gao, 2002) (Fig. 3). Another mud patch in the

southwest of Cheju Island (SWCIM), the northern

margin of the East China Sea, has also been widely

documented (DeMaster et al., 1985; Milliman et al.,

1985a, 1987; Lee and Chough, 1989; Alexander et al.,

1991a; Saito, 1998).

Thickness of Holocene sediment generally de-

creases southward and towards the central part, from

above 10 m near the tip of Shandong Peninsula

(maximum 40 m), along the Jiangsu Coast (maximum

30m), and off the southwestern tip of Korea (up to 50m

for HMB) to less than 5 m in the CYSM (Milliman et

al., 1987; Alexander et al., 1991a; Chough et al., 2000;

Park et al., 2000; Lee and Chu, 2001). Recently, how-

ever, Zhao et al. (1997) suggested that the CYSM is as

thick as about 16 m.

Sediment accumulation rates on the 100-year time

scale, estimated by 210Pb geochronology, have been

reported to be very high in the SEYSM (up to 18.4 mm/

year) and the south of Shandong Peninsula (up to 8.6

mm/year), whereas low in the CYSM, NYSM, and

SWCIM (about 1–3mm/year) (Lee and Chough, 1989;

Zhao et al., 1990, 2001; Alexander et al., 1991a; Gao,

2002) (Table 2). However, more recent researches

argue that average sedimentation rates in the SEYSM

and CYSM are quite low: 1–5 and 0.18mm/year on the

1000-year scale, respectively (Kim et al., 1999a; Park

et al., 2000). Kim et al. (1999a) suggested that strong

Table 2

Sediment accumulation rates (on 100-year time scale), budgets, and proven

Sea mud; CYSM: central Yellow Sea mud; SEYSM: southeastern Yellow

Area

(103 km2)

Accumulation rat

(mm/year)

NYSM 6.2a < 2a

CYSM 150( +CYSM)c 140d 0.3–2.7c, 3d 0.18

0.9–1.7f

SEYSM 8–8.1c,d,g,h 10–17c, 1d, 1–1

3.9–5.4h

SWCIM 15i 2–3c, 3d, 2–5i

a Cheng (2000).b Saito (1998).c Alexander et al. (1991a).d Lee and Chough (1989).e Kim et al. (1999a).f Zhao et al. (1990).g Lee and Chu (2001).h Park et al. (2000).i DeMaster et al. (1985).

biological mixing in the sediments might result in the

overestimation of sediment accumulation rate by

Alexander et al. (1991a).

2.4. Paleoenvironmental changes in the Yellow Sea

Recently, the high-quality palaeoceanography of

shelf seas in the Quaternary has been the research

highlights of marine geology because the marginal

seas contain excellent records and preserve paired

terrestrial–marine proxies in the same stratigraphic

sequence (Scourse and Austin, 2002). The Yellow

Sea, experienced dramatic glacio-eustatic sea-level

fluctuations during the late Quaternary, offers itself

as a natural laboratory in which to study the land–sea

interaction. The Yellow Sea was subaerially exposed

during the last sea-level low stand with the lowest sea

level of 130 m below the present level (Qin et al.,

1989). With the onset of Holocene transgression, sea

level in the western Yellow Sea advanced rapidly

because of the very shallow and gentle gradient,

approximated its present position at about 5–7 ky

BP, and followed by minor oscillations (Qin et al.,

1989; Alexander et al., 1991a). Meanwhile, a sea-

level curve from the western Korean coast displays a

rapid rise in the early stage of postglacial transgres-

sion (prior to 9000 year BP, Lee and Yoon, 1997), and

a gradual rise from � 8 m mean high water line

ances of muddy deposits in the Yellow Sea (NYSM: northern Yellow

Sea mud; SWCIM: southwestern Cheju Island mud)

es Sediment budgets

(107 tons/year)

Provenances

0.6–1a, < 2b Huanghea,b

e, 4–5a, 30b,

6( + SWCIM)c 22dHuangheb,c,d,g

mixeda,f

0g, 4.9–8.7c, 0.5d,

1.07g, 3.0hMixeda,c,h,

Korean riversd,g

6( + CYSM)c, 2d, 6b Huangheb,c,d

S.Y. Yang et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 63 (2003) 93–120100

around 8.5 ky BP at a slower rate of 0.5 mm/year to

the present level (Lee and Yoon, 1997; Kim et al.,

1999a; Chough et al., 2000). The Holocene marine

transgression began considerably earlier (12.9 ka) in

the central Yellow Sea compared to the western

Korean coastal area (7.9 ka) (Kim and Kennett,

1998). Benthic foraminifer record of the Yellow Sea

during the last 15,000 years indicated the establish-

ment of modern-type circulation in the Yellow Sea

between 8.47 and 6.63 ka, and the changes in the

intensity of river runoff, associated sediment and

organic carbon delivery, and bottom-water oxygen-

ation at 10.6 and 4.67 ka (Kim and Kucera, 2000).

Within recent 5 years, the sequence stratigraphy and

Quaternary environmental changes in the eastern part

of the Yellow Sea were reconstructed by detailed

studies on geophysics and sedimentology of several

deep cores (YSDP 102, 103, 104, 105) (Li et al.,

1998; Park et al., 2000; Jin and Chough, 1998, 2002;

Jin et al., 2002). Strata architecture of the central-

eastern Yellow Sea was predominantly controlled by

local subsidence, glacio-eustasy and transgressive

tidal dynamics, and subordinately by sediment flux,

antecedent topography, and basin physiography (Jin et

al., 2002).

3. Provenance studies in the Yellow Sea

3.1. Sediment sources in the Yellow Sea

In the last decade, four muddy deposits (CYSM,

SEYSM, SWCIM, NYSM) and two radial tidal sand

ridges off the northern Jiangsu coast (RTSRS) and in

the northeastern part of the Yellow Sea were exten-

sively characterized to identify their sources. The

RTSRS, located between the old Huanghe Delta and

the modern Changjiang, is one of the largest tidal sand

ridges in the world, covering an area of about 20,000

km2 (Li et al., 2001). Sediments of the sand ridges were

considered to be derived directly from the Changjiang

(Yang, 1989; Zhu and An, 1993), the old Huanghe

(Zhang and Chen, 1992), or both rivers (Li et al., 2001),

based on their morphological, sedimentological, and

mineralogical characters. The sand ridges are formed

after postglacial transgression maximum (Li et al.,

2001), or developed during postglacial sea-level rise

(Yang, 1989; Zhu and An, 1993; Liu et al., 1998). In the

eastern Yellow Sea, meanwhile, well-developed tidal

sand ridges are composed of recent coastal sands

supplied from the Korea Peninsula primarily by strong

tidal currents and subsequent shoreface erosion (Klein

et al., 1982; Lee and Yoon, 1997).

Most of the mud deposits (CYSM, SWYSM,

SWCIM, NYSM) are considered to be derived primar-

ily from the Huanghe, based on the circulation pattern

in the central Yellow Sea (Milliman et al., 1987; Qin et

al., 1989; Alexander et al., 1991a; Saito, 1998), spatial

distributions of various indicative minerals (Milliman

et al., 1985a; Lee and Chough, 1989; Park and Khim,

1992), sedimentological and geochemical character-

istics (Qin et al., 1989; Saito, 1998; Cho et al., 1999;

Kim et al., 1999b; Cheng, 2000; Chen et al., 2000b),

and especially, on the intuitive sense of the huge

sediment discharge from the Huanghe (Table 2, Fig.

4). The SWCIM has even been regarded as the distal

end of the Huanghe dispersal system in the East China

Sea (DeMaster et al., 1985; Alexander et al., 1991a),

and was formed in a counterclockwise cyclonic eddy

(Hu and Li, 1993). In contrast, some researches

showed clearly that the CYSM is a ‘‘multi-sourced

deposit’’ on the basis of mineral and geochemical

compositions and oceanographic observations (Qin

and Li, 1983; Gao et al., 1996; Zhao et al., 1990,

1997, 2001; Wei et al., 2000), not a depocenter of the

Yellow Sea (Liu et al., 1987) or a ‘‘relict mud’’ formed

during the late Pleistocene glacial period (Hu, 1984).

Nevertheless, the latest study based on the trend

analysis of sediment grain size, has shown that the

central Yellow Sea is a deposition center under the

control of cyclonic circulation and cold water gyre,

and the neighboring sediments are concentrated in

there (Shi et al., 2002). According to medium CaCO3

content, Qin and Li (1983) suggested that the NYSM is

of multi-origin with major source from the modern

Huanghe.

The SEYSM is also considered to be of mixed

sediment sources, including from Korean rivers,

Huanghe and/or the Changjiang, and/or the central

Yellow Sea after resuspension (Fig. 4) (Ren and Shi,

1986; Alexander et al., 1991a; Cho et al., 1999; Park et

al., 2000; Wei et al., 2000; Zhao et al., 2001). Large

sediment budget and high accumulation rate in the

SEYSM are attributable to the supply of considerable

amount of sediments from the Huanghe because

nearby Korean rivers (Han, Keum, and Yeongsan

Fig. 4. A schematic map showing the sediment discharges from major rivers in China and Korea, their dispersal directions, and annual sediment

budgets of the major sedimentary bodies in the Yellow Sea. Data from Alexander et al. (1991a), Lee and Chough (1989), Saito (1998), Park et

al. (2000), Lee and Chu (2001), Gao (2002), and Cheng (2000). Question marks in the map denote that there are uncertainties or arguments for

the meaning of the arrows. The numbers in the ellipses indicate sediment discharges of rivers and sediment yields or transports while the paned

numbers represent different opinions on sediment deposition rate (on 100-year time scale). Unit of the numbers is 108 tons/year.

S.Y. Yang et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 63 (2003) 93–120 101

Rivers) are not so large to supply such huge amounts

of sediments there (Schubel et al., 1984; Wells, 1988;

Ren and Shi, 1986; Alexander et al., 1991a; Chang et

al., 1996; Park et al., 2000). On the contrary, some

Korean scientists suggested that the SEYSM has been

derived mostly from the Keum River, based on the

distribution patterns of sandy deposit disconnecting

the CYSM and the SEYSM, and other sedimentolog-

ical, geophysical, mineralogical, and geochemical evi-

dences (Chough and Kim, 1981; Lee and Chough,

1989; Lee et al., 1992; Park and Khim, 1992; Jin and

Chough, 1998; Lee and Chu, 2001; Chough et al.,

2002). Accordingly, the influence of the Changjiang

and Huanghe on the Yellow Sea sediments is still an

enigma.

Measured budgets of these muddy sediments are

largely variable, up to several factors of order (Table

2, Fig. 4). Alexander et al. (1991a) suggested that

about 1.6� 108 tons of the Huanghe-derived sus-

pended sediments (about 15% of the modern sediment

load) are accumulating annually in the Yellow Sea.

However, Martin et al. (1993) and Qin (1994) argued

that net transport of modern Huanghe sediment to the

Yellow Sea is only about 6.8� 106 and 5–10� 106

tons/year respectively, less than 1% of total Huanghe

sediment discharge, which is much lower than other’s

S.Y. Yang et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 63 (2003) 93–120102

estimations (Ren and Shi, 1986; Milliman et al., 1987;

Lee and Chough, 1989; Alexander et al., 1991a). In

addition, the influence of modern Huanghe sediment

on the sedimentation over the Yellow Sea is mostly

limited to north of 36jN and west of 24jE (Martin et

al., 1993), and very weak in the eastern part (Qin and

Li, 1983; Qin, 1994). The gap in the estimation of the

sediment discharge may be mainly due to frequent

shifts of the Huanghe running path and uncertainty of

sediment discharge from the old Huanghe (Milliman

et al., 1985a, 1987; Ren and Shi, 1986; Saito, 1998).

In fact, the old Huanghe, carrying sediment load far

lower than present day’s, has primarily flowed into the

Bohai Sea during most of the Holocene period, while

it influenced the Yellow Sea extensively during the

late Holocene (Ren and Shi, 1986; Milliman et al.,

1987; Qin et al., 1989; Alexander et al., 1991a; Saito,

1998).

The Changjiang has been suggested to have once

debouched its sediments directly into the south Yel-

low Sea, forming a paleo-Changjiang delta therein

(Liu et al., 1987; Qin et al., 1989; Yang, 1989; Martin

et al., 1993; Zhu and An, 1993). In contrast, Li et al.

(2001) and Yang et al. (2002b) showed that the

Changjiang has run stably without considerable shift

of river path during the late Quaternary, and that most

of the suspended sediments have been trapped in the

estuary and nearby coastal areas. At present, most of

the Changjiang sediments are accumulated in the

Changjiang estuary and only a small part can be

transported to the offshore area of the East China

Sea (up to 124j E) over a distance of 250–300 km

eastward (Beardsley et al., 1985; Milliman et al.,

1985b; Zhang, 1999).

3.2. Sedimentological and mineralogical approaches:

details and conflicts

3.2.1. Materials and methods

As noted above, geochemical and mineralogical

approaches have been widely used to decipher the

sediment sources of the Yellow Sea. In this review

paper, we, thus, put great efforts to review these

approaches by examining the results from various

sources with careful considerations on the data quality.

New data obtained from the present study are also

supplemented for the better understanding these

approaches. A total of 43 bank and bottom sediment

samples were taken from six major Chinese and

Korean rivers (Changjiang, Huanghe, Yalujiang,

Han, Keum and Yeongsan Rivers). The clay minerals

of the river sediments were analyzed using X-ray

diffractograms (XRD, Philips-PW 1710) with CuKa

radiation. Oriented samples were obtained from both

untreated and ethylene-glycol-treated sample pro-

cesses. The relative abundances of major clay minerals

were estimated semi-quantitatively, based on peak

areas of diffractograms of ethylene-glycolated mate-

rial. Elemental concentrations of the river samples

were measured using ICP-MS (PQ3, Thermo Elemen-

tal) and ICP-AES (JY-38S), with the sample processes

following the methods by Yang et al. (2002a,b).

Analytic precision and recovery, checked by interna-

tional geostandard MAG-1 and Chinese standards

GSS-6, was about 90%.

3.2.2. Clay mineralogy

Clay and heavy mineral suites have been widely

employed to identify the sediment origin in the

Yellow Sea (Chough and Kim, 1981; Khim, 1988;

Lee and Chough, 1989; Qin et al., 1989; Park and

Khim, 1992). Clay minerals in the Yellow Sea sedi-

ments are all of terrigenous origin and composed

primarily of illite (generally more than 60%), and

subordinately of chlorite, smectite, and kaolinite (Wei

et al., 2000). Among them, smectite is regarded as an

indicator that can differentiate the sediments from

Chinese and Korean rivers, because smectite contents

are reported to be much lower in Korean river sedi-

ments (< 5%) than those in Huanghe sediments

(>10%) and in Changjiang sediments (>5%)(Table

3, Chough and Kim, 1981; Khim, 1988; Qin et al.,

1989; Park and Khim, 1992; Lee and Chu, 2001). As

likely, smectite contents in the sediments of the

western Yellow Sea are higher than those in the

eastern part (Table 3, Fig. 5; Liu et al., 1987; Qin et

al., 1989; Park and Khim, 1992). The NYSM contains

relatively higher smectite contents than the CYSM

and SEYSM do, suggesting the obvious influence of

the Huanghe sediment in there (Cheng, 2000).

According to the review on this matter and our data

reveals, however, that clay mineral assemblages in

Chinese or Korean river sediments are much variable

(Table 3). Both Park and Khim (1992) and Zhao et al.

(2001) reported that clay mineral assemblage varies

significantly depending on sample processes, analyt-

Table 3

Clay mineral assemblages and their relative contents in sediments of the Yellow Sea and Chinese and Korean rivers (%)

Illite Smectite Chlorite Kaolinite References

Huanghe 59 23.2 9.3 8.5 Xu, 1983

65 14 12 9 Milliman et al., 1985a

67 13 12 8 Ren and Shi, 1986

62 16 12 10 Yang, 1988

62 (57–68) 12 (7–16) 16 (11–23) 10 (7–18) This study

Old Huanghe 63.7 20.5 8.3 7.7 Qin and Li, 1983

Loess 60–68 9–19 11–12 10–11 Ren and Shi, 1986

Changjiang 68 5.5 13.9 12.7 Xu, 1983

53 19 10 18 Milliman et al., 1985a

75–79 2–4 19–21( +Kao.) 19–21( +Chl.) Ren and Shi, 1986

65 10 11 14 Yang, 1988

66 (58–78) 6 (3–11) 12 (8–19) 16 (11–20) This study

Yalujiang 59 1 30 10 Ren and Shi, 1986

68 (64–72) 2 (1–3) 18 (15–20) 12 (11–14) This study

Han River 56.48 0 19.8 23 Park and Oh, 1991

70 0.7 16.8 12.5 Park and Khim, 1992

Keum River 63.7 0.1 19.3 17 Choi, 1981

72–79 trace 12–16 8–14 Khim, 1988

59.3 4.4 17.4 18.9 This study

Yeongsan River 63.9 0.1 16.8 19.2 Park and Khim, 1992

59.5 13.4 13.8 13.3 This study

NYSM 70.5–72 9.6–12 8.6–10.4 7.4–8.5 Cheng, 2000

SWYSM 70 16 7 7 Wang et al., 1999

SWCIM 71.5 7.2 11.2 10.1 Xu, 1983

CYSM 65–72 5–17 6–15 6–12 Khim, 1988

66 13 12 10 Park and Khim, 1992

>64 < 7 < 17 < 14 Wei et al., 2000a

< 62 >10 >17 >14 Wei et al., 2000b

69.9–72.2 0.51–0.54 11.2–12.0 16.1–17.6 Cheng, 2000

SEYSM 71 < 2 16 14 Park and Khim, 1992

69.4–71.0 0.01–1.1 12.4–13.5 15.5–17.0 Cheng, 2000

< 58 7–10 >17 >16 Wei et al., 2000c

>58 < 7 < 17 < 16 Wei et al., 2000d

55–70 < 10 12–18 12–17 Lee and Chu, 2001

Yellow Sea 61–78 3–15 4–17 3–14 Qin et al., 1989

64–72 < 4 f >14 < 9f>14 9–13 Park and Khim, 1992

48–75 (61) 4–17 (8) 10–23 (17) 9–18 (14) Wei et al., 2000

a Data of middle and southern parts of CYSM.b Data of northern part of CYSM.c Data of central and southern part of SEYSM.d Data of northern part of SEYSM.

S.Y. Yang et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 63 (2003) 93–120 103

ical conditions, and calculation methods. The results

obtained from this study show similar trends of clay

suites as described above, except for higher smectite

contents in Korean river sediments than previous

reports (Table 3), which casts doubt on the application

of smectite to discriminate Chinese and Korean river

sediments.

Submarine weathering and diagenesis of clay min-

erals may obviously change clay mineralogy in the sea

(especially for smectite, Chamley, 1989). Especially,

the distribution pattern of smectite in the Yellow Sea

does not support the possibility of applying it to

discriminate the sediment sources in the Sea; for

example, smectite contents in the CYSM and SWCIM

are generally lower than those in the Huanghe sedi-

ments (Fig. 5, Table 3). Moreover, recent data show

that smectite contents in Korean coastal sediments,

SEYSM and CYSM, are more variable from less than

Fig. 5. Distribution map of smectite in the Yellow Sea. Modified after Qin et al. (1989), Park and Khim (1992), and Wei et al. (2000). Note that

higher smectite content in the western Yellow Sea and lower content in the east part. The central Yellow Sea (CYSM) has variable content. Note

there is no data in sediment off the coast of North Korea.

S.Y. Yang et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 63 (2003) 93–120104

1% to more than 10% even in the sandy area, and fall

in the range of Chinese and Korean river sediments,

which is diagnostic of mixed sources (Park et al., 1997,

1998; Cheng, 2000; Moon et al., 2000; Wei et al.,

2000; Zhao et al., 2001).

3.2.3. Heavy mineralogy

In the same way, heavy minerals were considered

for provenance discrimination in the Yellow Sea (Lee et

al., 1988; Lee and Chough, 1989; Qin et al., 1989; Zhao

et al., 1990; Li et al., 2001). Averaged content of heavy

minerals in the Yellow Sea is about 3% with the

maximum of 22.5% in the southeastern area, consisting

dominantly of hornblende, epidote and schistose min-

erals (Lee et al., 1988; Qin et al., 1989). The near-

uniformly distributed heavy minerals in the southeast-

ern Yellow Sea have been reported to be derivedmostly

from the adjacent landmass of Korea (Lee et al., 1988;

Lee and Chough, 1989). However, Jiang et al. (2000)

reported that detrital minerals in the SEYSM are

derived primarily from in situ erosion of shelf bedrocks

and reworking of remnant sediments during the last

postglacial transgression, while partly from Korean

rivers. Zhao et al. (1990) suggested that the CYSM is

a sediment mixture from surrounding landmasses,

based on the contents of schistose minerals in sedi-

ments. Despite of the above limited applications of

heavy minerals, it should be kept in mind that sugges-

tions from heavy minerals for the discrimination of

sediment source of the SEYSM and the CYSM do not

always match with the results from the mineralogical

characters. Strong hydrodynamic regime in the Yellow

Sea, especially in the eastern part, may restrict the

application of heavy minerals as the indicators of

sediment source because distribution patterns of heavy

minerals can be easily changed by the reworking and

redistribution of bottom sediments (Morton, 1985,

1991). Moreover, as will be discussed in the later

S.Y. Yang et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 63 (2003) 93–120 105

sections, any geochemical proofs still do not support

the heavy mineral results that may be related to the

contents and distribution patterns of rare earth elements

and other elements including Th, Zr, Hf, and Nb.

3.2.4. Calcium carbonate minerals

Calcium carbonate (detrital calcite) has been also

considered as a possible source indicator of the

Huanghe sediments because it is highly enriched in

the Huanghe sediments and depleted in the Changjiang

and Korean river sediments (Choi, 1981; Qin and Li,

1983; Milliman et al., 1985a, 1987; Liu et al., 1987;

Ren and Shi, 1986; Yang, 1988; Alexander et al.,

1991a). The distribution pattern of CaCO3 in the

western Yellow Sea, generally decreasing towards

the central part, seems to be used as a provenance

indicator, in a sense (Fig. 6). However, we suspect that

the distribution pattern is strongly influenced by grain

size composition of sediment, and the contents of

biogenic CaCO3 including shell fragments. Most of

carbonates in the SEYSM are reported to be biogenic

shell debris (Lee et al., 1992; Cho et al., 1999).

Moreover, the sediments around the Shandong Pen-

insula and the offshore of northern Jiangsu coast,

which are supplied mostly from the Huanghe (Qin et

al., 1989), show only 5–10% of CaCO3 contents,

which is similar to that of SEYSM. Therefore, it

should be prudent on using CaCO3 content as a source

indicator in the whole Yellow Sea, especially in the

eastern part because of the ubiquitous biogenic CaCO3

therein. Presence of detrital calcite peak in X-ray

diffractogram of clay fraction has also been used to

discriminate the Huanghe matter from the Changjiang

sediment (Milliman et al., 1985a,b; Youn and Go,

1987; Alexander et al., 1991a). Calcite in the fine

sediments of the epicontinental seas, however, has two

kinds of origin: detrital and biogenic (Li and Qin,

1991), which makes it impossible to correctly identify

the detrital one contributed by the Huanghe in a de-

finite area.

3.3. Geochemical approaches for the provenance

discrimination of the Yellow Sea sediments

3.3.1. Geochemical compositions of Chinese and

Korean river sediments

To discriminate the origin of the Yellow Sea sedi-

ment, it is essential to characterize first the composi-

tions of Chinese and Korean river-borne matters in

view of tremendous sediment discharge into the sea

from these rivers. For the better understanding of the

difference of elemental concentrations between Chi-

nese and Korean river sediments, we compared the

elemental concentrations of these river sediments with

same sediment types or similar grain size composi-

tions (Table 4). It is well known that the Huanghe

sediments are characterized by the enrichment of

alkaline and alkaline earth elements (Na, Ca, Sr, and

Ba) and the depletion of transition metals relative to

the Changjiang sediments (Table 4; Li et al., 1984;

Zhang et al., 1990; Huang et al., 1992; Yang and Li,

2000; Yang et al., 2002b). The compositional charac-

teristic is mainly due to the difference of source rock

compositions and weathering regimes. Again, geo-

chemical compositions of the Huanghe sediments are

basically controlled by the widely distributed loess

which are eroded strongly under the arid and cold

climate regime, whereas the characteristic elemental

compositions of the Changjiang sediments are con-

tributable, in great part, to the well-developed igneous

rocks and associated metal ore deposits with strong

chemical weathering activity (Li et al., 1984; Qu and

Yan, 1990; Zhang et al., 1990; Huang et al., 1992;

Yang and Li, 2000; Yang et al., 2002a,b). So, different

elemental compositions between the Changjiang and

Huanghe sediments can be considered as potential

criteria for the differentiation of both river sediments

in the Yellow Sea (Zhao et al., 1990; Yang and Li,

2000; Yang et al., 2002a,b). Using a two end-mem-

bers discrimination model and nine conservative ele-

ments, we ult imately identif ied and semi-

quantitatively calculated the contributions of the

Changjiang and Huanghe matters on the evolution

of coastal plain in northern Jiangsu Province during

postglacial period (Yang et al., 2002b). Rare earth

element (REE) geochemistry also revealed the differ-

ent compositions and constraints between the Chang-

jiang and Huanghe sediments (Yang et al., 2002a).

Comparatively, elemental compositions of Korean

river sediments are rarely documented to outside, and

especially, elements such as REE have never been

studied in detail (Lee et al., 1992; Cho, 1994; Choi et

al., 1996; Cho et al., 1999; Choi and Cho, 2001).

Concentrations of most elements, especially trace

metals, are dramatically variable between the rivers

as well as between reports from a river (Table 4). The

Fig. 6. Regional distribution map of CaCO3 in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea. Modified after Ren and Shi (1986), Lee et al. (1992), and Cho et

al. (1999). Note that higher content in the west and southeast Yellow Sea and low content in northeast Yellow Sea. Note there is no data in

sediment off the coast of North Korea.

S.Y. Yang et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 63 (2003) 93–120106

differences, particularly in suspended particulate mat-

ters (SPM), are possibly caused by severe pollution in

rivers, rather than by the difference in source rock

compositions (Cho, 1994; Choi et al., 1996; Choi and

Cho, 2001). Despite pollution impact and different

sampling/analytical methods make it difficult to

directly compare the geochemical compositions

between Chinese and Korean river sediments, the

reported compositional differences between them

seem to be considered to differentiate Chinese and

Korean river sediments. The concentrations of Ca and

Sr in Korean river sediments are significantly lower

than those in Chinese river sediments, especially the

Huanghe sediments (Table 4). In addition, among

transition metals, Mn has been reported to be highly

enriched in Korean river sediments (Lee et al., 1992;

Cho, 1994; Cho et al., 1999), up to 10 factors higher

than that in Huanghe sediments, while other elements

in Korean river sediments display no uniform varia-

tions relative to those of the Changjiang and Huanghe

sediments (Table 4). Elemental concentrations of the

Yalujiang river sediment generally fall in the range

between those of the Huanghe and Changjiang sedi-

ments, and are closer to the latter (Table 4). According

to the data listed in Table 4, it is still unclear that Fe

and Mg are enriched in Chinese river sediments while

Mn and Ba in Korean river sediments, as suggested by

Lee et al. (1992) and Cho et al. (1999).

Although the difference of elemental compositions

between Chinese and Korean river sediments has not

Table 4

Comparisons of elemental concentrations in Chinese and Korean river sediments (unit: Ag/g, *%)

Huanghe Changjiang Yalujiang Han Keum Yeongsan

Yang and

Li, 2000

Li et al.,

1984

Yang and

Li, 2000

Li et al.,

1984

Chen et al.,

2000a

Choi and

Cho, 2001

Choi and

Cho, 2001

Choi et al.,

1996

Cho,

1994

Choi and

Cho, 2001

Bank

sedimentaSPMa Bank

sedimentaSPM Bank

sedimentaSPM SPM Bank

sedimentaSPM SPM

K* 1.92 (0.2)b – 2.20 (0.2) – 2.87 1.98 (0.02) 2.77 (0.04) 2.42 (0.02) 2 2.65 (0.05)

Na* 2.22 (0.5) 0.9 1.47 (0.2) 0.58 0.97 0.51 (0.02) 0.72 (0.00) 1.55 (0.1) 0.8 0.68 (0.01)

Ca* 3.86 (0.2) 6 3.06 (0.2) 2.8 2.32 0.64 (0.03) 0.56 (0.00) 0.69 (0.1) 0.8 0.47 (0.02)

Fe* 3.30 (0.2) 3.2 5.49 (0.9) 5.55 5.87 4.81 (0.02) 5.35 (0.01) 3.63 (0.4) 5.2 4.54 (0.01)

Mg* 1.83 (0.2) 1.3 2.91 (0.5) 1.35 1.65 1.01 (0.02) 1.11 (0.00) 1.05 (0.2) 1 0.81 (0.01)

Al* 9.81 (0.5) 8 11.6 (1.3) 9.7 7.2 9.29 (0.48) 12.06 (0.03) 8.30 (0.6) 10 11.37 (0.03)

Zn 58.6 (4.3) 75 116 (22) 108 231 209 (2.8) 163 (1.8) 90.0 (15) 396 130 (0.2)

Pb 29.2 (2.6) < 35 50.5 (11) 64.5 40 42.5 (2.7) 46.1 (0.7) 31.2 (4.4) 79 35 (0.5)

Co 11.0 (1.9) 12 15.1 (2.4) 24.5 24.5 18.2 (0.2) 21.8 (0.9) 13.3 (2.3) 19 17.7 (0.2)

Ni 26.3 (2.4) 38 40.9 (6.2) 78 40.2 42.6 (0.7) 48 (2.0) 26.5 (3.7) 56 32.7 (0.1)

Ba 643 (130) 600 461 (155) 560 – 545 (14) 666 (6) – 570 604 (7)

Mn 425 (24) 800 829 (140) 1055 – 2005 (7) 1266 (4) 819 (140) 4389 927 (12)

Cr 64.2 (13) 72 77.9 (15) 83 44.6 51.4 (2.4) 74 (1.1) 68.2 (13) 99 52.4 (0.3)

V 105 (16) 110 141 (31) 160 – 74.6 (0.73) 103.6 (0.2) – 97 94 (0.6)

Cu 17.6 (2.4) 33 47.6 (15) 69.5 42.3 46.3 (1.3) 53.6 (1.8) 22.5 (6.5) 55 39.1 (0.9)

Sr 188 (15) 220 136 (10) 150 – 104 (3) 122 (2.0) – 117 111 (0.4)

Ti 3904 (272) 4000 6775 (1331) 5700 – 3800 4900 4810 (301) 4000 5100

a The samples of bank sediments represent the fine fraction (< 0.063 mm or smaller than 7U); SPM denotes suspended particulate matter.b The data in the brackets represent the standard deviation.

S.Y. Yang et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 63 (2003) 93–120 107

been fully understood yet, their systematic variation

can be expected because source rock compositions

and weathering mechanisms between Chinese and

Korean river basins are remarkably different. Large

drainage basins of the Changjiang and the Huanghe

(about 2.6� 106 km2 in total) are primarily covered

by carbonate rock, loess and clastic deposits (Li et al.,

1984; Qu and Yan, 1990; Zhang et al., 1990; Yang

and Li, 2000; Yang et al., 2002a,b), while those of

Korean rivers (about 3.9� 104 km2 in total) mostly by

Precambrian igneous and metamorphic rocks, Jurassic

and Cretaceous granite and schist, and Quaternary

clastic sediments (Lee and Chough, 1989; Chough et

al., 2000). Especially, variation of concentration of

alkaline earth elements between Chinese and Korean

river sediments might be resulted from different

provenance compositions and weathering processes

between their drainage basins. However, the applica-

tion of alkaline earth elements (Ca, Sr, Ba, Mg) to

trace the Huanghe sediments in the Yellow Sea has

been confined to limited areas because of the insta-

bility of these elements in sedimentary environments

and of strong disturbance of biogenic components (Li

and Qin, 1991; Martin et al., 1993; Cho et al., 1999;

Chen et al., 2000b).

In the past several years, we put great efforts on

characterizing geochemical compositions of sediments

from Chinese and Korean rivers around the Yellow

Sea, in order to establish the proper source indicators

for tracing these river materials (Yang and Li, 2000;

Yang et al., 2000, 2002a,b). Adopting the same

method described by Yang et al. (2002a,b), we deter-

mined elemental compositions of Changjiang, Huang-

he, Yalujiang, Han, Keum and Yeongsan river

sediments. The results show that most of elements

are generally enriched in the Changjiang sediment than

those in the Huanghe, Yalujiang, and Korean river

sediments, especially for those trace metals such as

Mn, Co, V, Ni, Cr, Zn, and Cu (Fig. 7). Relative to

Changjiang and Huanghe sediments, Korean river

sediments have higher Th, Li, and Rb concentrations,

but extremely lower Ca contents (Fig. 7). Compara-

tively, the Yalujiang sediment is characterized by

higher concentrations of Na, Ba, Nb, Zr, and REE

and lower of Ca than other river sediments. Higher Sr,

Ba, and Na concentrations and lower Ca content in the

Fig. 7. Comparisons of averaged elemental concentrations in Korean river (Keum and Yeongsan), Yalujiang, and Huanghe sediments with those

in the Changjiang sediment.

S.Y. Yang et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 63 (2003) 93–120108

Yalujiang sediment may indicate that feldspar is a

major component of the sediment. However, it is hard

to discriminate these river sediments based on the

average concentrations of most elements in view of

the significant variations of composition. The varia-

tions of some elemental concentrations can be larger

than the difference between different rivers, as is

shown in Table 4. Elemental concentrations of river

sediments bear quite different relationships with grain

size, and most elemental concentrations generally

increase with the decreasing of grain size (Fig. 8). It

is interesting to note that Ca is rich in fine (clay)

fraction of the Huanghe sediment, but in coarse

fraction of the Changjiang sediment, and has poor

correlation with grain size in Korean river sediments.

Due to this, diagnostic calcite peak in the clay sedi-

ment from the Huanghe has been used to identify the

dispersal of the Huanghe matter in the Yellow and East

China Seas (Milliman et al., 1985a,b; Youn and Go,

1987; Alexander et al., 1991a).

3.3.2. Geochemical approaches: details and

reinterpretations

Geochemical study of China continental seas was

launched in 1958 (Zhao et al., 1995). Up to the

present, geochemistry of the Yellow Sea sediment

primarily focused on the western side and partly on

the southeastern area, whereas the northeastern area

offshore North Korea has still been wrapped in

mystery. Elemental compositions of the Yellow Sea

sediments are very close to those of upper continental

crust, while much different from ocean crust (Table 5;

Qin et al., 1989; Zhao and Yan, 1994; Zhao et al.,

1995), reflecting the dominant supply of terrestrial

materials from surrounding landmasses. However, it is

difficult to directly compare the elemental concentra-

tions of the Yellow Sea sediment with those of the

river sediments because of strikingly diverse concen-

tration ranges in the Yellow Sea and river sediments

(Tables 4 and 5).

The granulometric characters of sediments exert

considerable influences on elemental concentrations;

alkaline earth elements are enriched in sandy sedi-

ments, while transition metals are concentrated in clay

and silt fractions (Fig. 9). In the Yellow Sea, therefore,

spatial distribution patterns of most elemental concen-

trations are similar with grain size variations (Fig. 10,

Qin et al., 1989; Lee et al., 1992; Zhao and Yan, 1994;

Zhao et al., 1995; Cho et al., 1999; Kim et al., 1998,

1999b). Most of the transition metals are concentrated

in detrital materials primarily as the residual/lattice

fractions (Zhao and Yan, 1994), while alkaline earth

elements (Ca, Sr, Mg, Ba) are partly enriched in

biogenic materials (Kim et al., 1999b; Cho et al.,

1999). Some transition metals, including Mn, Zn, Cu,

and Pb, are strongly controlled by diagenesis and

anthropogenic contamination and therefore, yield high

percentages in reactive/leachable phases (Lee et al.,

1992; Wu, 1993; Zhao and Yan, 1994; Hong et al.,

1997; Kim et al., 2000).

3.3.2.1. V/Al and Mn/Al ratios. The Huanghe-

derived sediment is characterized by high V/Al

(13.0 on average) and low Mn/Al (72 on average)

ratios, whereas Korean river sediment has low V/Al

(8.0–9.7) and high Mn/Al (82–439) ratios (Table 6;

Fig. 8. Relationship between elemental concentrations and mean grain size (Mz) in Chinese and Korean river sediments (Unit of Mz: U).

S.Y. Yang et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 63 (2003) 93–120 109

Cho et al., 1999). Accordingly, Cho et al. (1999)

suggested that these elemental ratios could be applied

to discriminate the Huanghe and Korean river sedi-

ments, respectively, and further interpreted the CYSM

and major part of the SEYSM to be composed of the

Huanghe sediments in terms of their higher V/Al

ratios. However, the Mn/Al ratios in the Keum river

sediments, reported by Choi et al. (1996) and Choi

and Cho (2001) and bearing a large variation, are not

considerably different from those in the SPM sedi-

ments of the Changjiang and Huanghe (Table 6). The

high Mn/Al ratios in Korean rivers and nearshore

sediments are suspected to be due to the diagenetic

incorporation of Mn into particle surface as Mn-oxide

under an oxidizing condition (Lee et al., 1992; Kim et

al., 1998), while low concentrations of Mn in the

CYSM are interpreted as diagenetic dissolution of Mn

oxides under a suboxic condition due to decomposi-

tion of organic matters rather than direct supply from

the Huanghe (Lee et al., 1992; Kim et al., 1998).

Furthermore, high concentrations of Mn (more than

1000 Ag/g) also occur near the tip of Shandong

Peninsula where the sediments are unquestionably

derived from the Huanghe, and most of Mn is present

as autogenetic form (Fig. 10c; Zhao and Yan, 1994;

Kim et al., 1998).

3.3.2.2. (Mn+Pb)/(Cu+Ni) ratio. Lee et al. (1992)

reported that (Mn + Pb)/(Cu +Ni) ratio in surface sedi-

ments decreases gradually from more than 15 in the

west coast of Korea Peninsula to less than 5 in the

central Yellow Sea. The ratios are 13–17 in Keum and

Table 5

Comparison of elemental concentrations in the Yellow Sea sediment deposits (unit: Ag/g, *%)

Yellow Sea Shelf CYSM SEYSM SWCIM

Zhao and Yan, 1994 Kim et al., 1998, 1999b Cho et al., 1999 Cho et al., 1999 Youn and Go, 1987

n= 64 n= 49 n= 4 n= 20 n= 4

K* 1.93 (1.05–2.94) – 2.94 (0.15) 2.87 (2.17–3.49) –

Na* 1.63 (0.59–2.23) – 1.08 (0.11) 0.77 (0.43–1.42) 0.48 (0.47–0.51)

Ca* 2.69 (0.50–23.51) 2.09 (0.21–7.43) 0.95 (0.12) 0.72 (0.34–2.93) 5.50 (3.46–8.66)

Mg* 1.15 (0.33–1.85) 1.13 (0.11–2.21) 1.6 (0.05) 0.59 (0.16–1.66) 0.69 (0.56–0.76)

Fe* 3.16 (1.54–4.90) 3.16 (0.48–5.74) 4.51 (0.04) 2.17 (0.85–4.69) 1.89 (1.63–2.08)

Al* 6.21 (3.15–5.50) 6.79 (3.23–11.20) 8.59 (0.03) 5.75 (4.12–8.75) 0.49 (0.11–0.77)

Zn 67 (24–123) 67 (7–148) 101 (0.05) 40 (15–106) 34.3 (25.6–43.1)

Pb 22 (15–101) – – – 25.3 (9.49–41.7)

Co 13 (5–19) 11 (1–20) 15 (0.05) 7 (3–16) 11.6 (10.5–12.6)

Ni 26 (8–48) 24 (3–86) 47 (0.05) 17 (6–50) 28.9 (25.7–31.4)

Cu 18 (2–32) 14 (1–37) 28 (0.05) 9 (3–29) 7.0 (3.71–9.12)

Cr 64 (17–133) 48 (6–87) 89 (0.04) 37 (12–93) 8.4 (5.37–10.68)

V 76 (26–124) 67 (8–123) 115 (0.04) 45 (14–120) –

Ba 512 (360–1510) 555 (315–816) 447 (0.02) 648 (436–788) –

Mn 570 (170–5720) 587 (180–1930) 385 (0.00) 360 (154–1463) 243 (169–295)

Ti 3500 (900–7900) 359 (38–616) 4200 (0.04) 2500 (1000–4400) –

Sr 194 (134–380) 208 (133–488) 140 (0.06) 178 (134–210) –

All of the data in the brackets represent the range of elemental concentrations, except in CYSM (coefficient of variation); n is sample numbers.

S.Y. Yang et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 63 (2003) 93–120110

Yeongsan river sediments, calculated from the river

data by Choi and Cho (2001) and Choi et al. (1996).

They suggested that the ratio could be a candidate for

identifying sediment origin in the eastern Yellow Sea.

The ratios in the Changjiang and Huanghe sediments

are as high as up to 15, calculated from the data byYang

Fig. 9. Relationships between the content of transition metals and the me

around the Keum Estuary (square). After Cho et al. (1999). Lines are bes

and Li (2000) and Li et al. (1984), not obviously

different from those of Korean river sediments if the

analytic errors were considered. In addition, these

elements may be greatly influenced by anthropogenic

effect and redox change (Wu, 1993; Zhao et al., 1995;

Hong et al., 1997; Kim et al., 1998; Sohrin et al., 1999).

an grain size (Mz) in the sediments of the Yellow Sea (circle) and

t-fit regression lines.

Fig. 10. Regional distribution maps of some elements in the Yellow Sea sediments. Modified after (a) Zhao and Yan (1994), Qin et al. (1989);

(b, c) Kim et al. (1998, 1999b), Qin et al. (1989); (d) Kim et al. (2000). Note that regional differences of elemental compositions in marine

sediments. The circled data are the average elemental concentrations of river sediments (Choi et al., 1996; Chen et al., 2000a; Yang and Li,

2000; this study). There is no data in sediment off the coast of North Korea.

S.Y. Yang et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 63 (2003) 93–120 111

Therefore, the ratio is not an appropriate tracer for pro-

venance discriminations, especially in the highly con-

taminated and fertile coastal areas of the Yellow Sea.

3.3.2.3. K, Ba, Al, Pb, and Zn. Higher concentra-

tions of K, Ba, Al, and Pb in the sandy sediments of

the northeastern Yellow Sea than those in the near-

shore area off Shandong Peninsula were regarded as

the result of abundant occurrence of K-feldspar sup-

plied from the Yalujiang River (Kim et al., 1999b).

Recently, Kim et al. (2000) reported the distribution

pattern of bulk Pb concentrations and speciation

results in the Yellow Sea sediments. The high con-

centrations of leachable Pb in the western Yellow Sea

appear to reflect diagenetic accumulation and anthro-

pogenic pollution. But, high concentrations of residual

Pb (f 20 Ag/g) in the northeastern sandy area are

probably due to the abundant K-feldspar derived

directly from granitic landmass by in situ coastal

erosion, rather than from the Yalujiang River. Rela-

tively higher K, Al, and Ba concentrations in the

Yalujiang sediment than those in the Changjiang and

Huanghe sediments seem to reflect the abundance of

K-feldspar (Table 4, Fig. 7). Similar concentrations of

K and Al between the Yalujiang and Korean river

sediments, however, make it difficult to discriminate

the river sediments using these element indicators.

Therefore, it remains unclear thus far whether the K-

feldspar there originated ultimately from the Yalujiang

River or directly from nearby shoreface erosion.

Meanwhile, Chen et al. (2000a) reported that leach-

able Pb concentrations in the Changjiang and

Huanghe sediments average 13 and 21 Ag/g, respec-tively, while the residual Pb are as low as about 9 Ag/g. The residual Pb concentrations in the Keum and

Yeongsan river sediments, measured in this study, are

13.5 and 9.9 Ag/g, respectively. The higher concen-

tration of residual Pb in Keum river sediments is

consistent with the distribution patterns of residual

Pb in northeastern Yellow Sea sediments (Fig. 10d),

Table 6

Comparisons of elemental ratios (Me/Al) in Chinese and Korean river sediments

Huanghe Changjiang Yalujiang Han Keum Yeongsan

Yang and

Li, 2000

Li et al.,

1984

Yang and

Li, 2000

Li et al.,

1984

Chen et al.,

2000a

Choi and

Cho, 2001

Choi and

Cho, 2001

Choi et al.,

1996

Cho,

1994

Choi and

Cho, 2001

Bank

sediment

SPM Bank

sediment

SPM Bank

sediment

SPM SPM Bank

sediment

SPM SPM

K/Al 0.2 – 0.2 – 0.4 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2

Na/Al 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1

Ca/Al 0.4 0.8 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.0

Fe/Al 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.8 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.4

Mg/Al 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1

Zn/Al 6.0 9.4 10 11 32 23 14 11 40 11

Pb/Al 3.0 – 4.3 6.6 5.6 4.6 3.8 3.8 7.9 3.1

Co/Al 1.1 1.5 1.3 2.5 3.4 2.0 1.8 1.4 1.9 1.6

Ni/Al 2.7 4.8 3.5 8.0 5.6 4.6 4.0 3.2 5.6 2.9

Ba/Al 66 75 40 58 – 59 55 – 57 53

Mn/Al 43 100 71 109 – 216 105 99 439 82

Cr/Al 6.6 9.0 6.7 8.6 6.2 5.5 6.1 8.2 9.9 4.6

V/Al 11 14 12 16 – 8.0 8.6 – 9.7 8.3

Cu/Al 1.8 4.1 4.1 7.2 5.9 5.0 4.4 2.7 5.5 3.4

Sr/Al 12 28 19 16 – 11 10 – 12 9.8

Ti/Al 399 500 585 588 – 409 406 579 400 448

The ratios of elements to Al are calculated from the data in Table 4.

S.Y. Yang et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 63 (2003) 93–120112

whereas the low concentrations of residual Pb in the

western Yellow Sea sediments (Kim et al., 2000),

therefore may reflect the dominant influences of the

Changjiang and Huanghe sediments (Fig. 10d). Such

selective leaching speciation analysis, removing labile

(anthropogenic and diagenetic) fraction, may become

a new geochemical gear for the provenance study in

the Yellow Sea sediments.

High Pb and Zn concentrations are observed in

SEYSM, while high Zn but low Pb occur in CYSM

and low Zn are present in SWYSM (Zhao et al.,

2001). Extrapolating from this, different provenances

have been suggested for these three mud deposits in

the Yellow Sea. However, grain size, anthropogenic

and diagenetic effects were not considered carefully in

this study, and moreover, concentrations of Zn and Pb

between Chinese and Korean river sediments were not

compared in detail to discriminate the sediment ori-

gins. The grain size of the CYSM is finer than those

of other muddy deposits, with a median size >8U(Saito, 1998), implying that grain size may exert some

control on elemental composition, especially on these

transition metals. As discussed above, Zn and Pb can

be mobile during earth surface process and bear high

contents in reactive phases of sediments and, there-

fore, it is improper to identify the sediment origin

using bulk elemental concentration instead of residual

fraction.

3.3.2.4. Rb and Ti. Zhao et al. (1990) insisted that

the Huanghe is not a dominant provenance of the

CYSM, based on the quite different contents of Rb

and Ti between the Huanghe sediments and the

CYSM. In contrast, the NYSM and SWYSM generally

bear similar Rb and Ti concentrations with the

Huanghe sediment, suggesting the sediment supply

from the Huanghe. Unfortunately, the element data of

Korean river sediments were not considered and

included in that study. Moreover, Ti concentrations

are close between Huanghe, Yalujiang, and Korean

river sediments (about 3500–4500 Ag/g), except forhigher values in the Changjiang sediments (f 6775

Ag/g, Tables 4 and 7). Therefore, Ti does not seem to

be an appropriate indicator for discriminating the

Huanghe sediments from the Yalujiang and Korean

river sediments, although it is a well-established ele-

ment indicator for provenance study (Taylor and

McLennan, 1985; Rollinson, 1993). However, remark-

able enrichment of Ti in the Changjiang sediment

relative to other rivers implies that it can be an

S.Y. Yang et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 63 (2003) 93–120 113

appropriate index for identifying the Changjiang sedi-

ment origin.

3.3.2.5. Sr and Nd isotopes. Isotopic approach has

rarely been adopted to identify the sediment origin in

the Yellow Sea, except for few attempts in recent years

(Nohara et al., 1999; Meng et al., 2000). The Chang-

jiang sediment was reported to have higher 87Sr/86Sr

ratio (0.7250 reported by Nohara et al., 1999 or 0.7243

by Meng et al., 2000) than the Huanghe sediment

(0.7120 by Nohara et al., 1999 or 0.7193 by Meng et

al., 2000), probably suggesting a new tracer for dis-

criminating both river sediments in the sea. The differ-

ent source rock compositions and weathering degrees

between both drainage basins account for the different87Sr/86Sr ratios (Meng et al., 2000). According to the

Sr–Nd isotopic ratios as well as some trace elements,

Nohara et al. (1999) suggested that the samples from

the Yellow Sea were predominantly formed by binary

mixing process as end-members of the Huanghe and

Changjiang-originated materials, and intermittently

influenced by the third component which has relatively

high 87Sr/86Sr and low 143Nd/144Nd ratios. Unfortu-

nately, the detailed Sr–Nd isotopic ratios in the whole

Yellow Sea and Korean river sediments are not avail-

able now, despite the fact that the analysis of the ratios

should at least be tried.

3.3.2.6. Rare earth element. As a widely used sedi-

ment source indicator (Taylor and McLennan, 1985;

Rollinson, 1993), REE has been occasionally tried to

identify the sediment origin in the Yellow Sea (Wang,

1990; Zhao and Yan, 1994; Nohara et al., 1999). REE

concentration in the Yellow Sea sediment ranges from

64 to 256 Ag/g and averages 175 Ag/g, concentrating inthe clay component and depleting in sands (Wang,

1990). Like other elements, REE composition of the

Yellow Sea sediment is similar to that of continental

crust, showing relatively LREE-enriched pattern with

negative Eu anomaly. Heavy minerals exert a great

control on REE concentration, and major part of REE

resides in residual fraction (Wang, 1990; Zhao and

Yan, 1994). Based on uniform REE patterns and

similar fractionations, Nohara et al. (1999) suggested

that the provenance of the Yellow Sea sediment could

not be easily distinguished. Our recent data, however,

indicate that REE concentrations and fractionation

patterns of the Changjiang and Huanghe sediments

are different (Yang et al., 2002a), and also different

from those of Korean river sediments (see below),

implying the potential application of REE for prove-

nance discrimination of the Yellow Sea sediment.

3.3.3. Major problems in geochemical studies on the

Yellow Sea

Previous researches on the sediment geochemistry

of the Yellow Sea, especially published in international

journals, are quite limited in their number and even

restricted to specific area. Therefore, it is very hard to

synthesize the geochemical characteristics of the

whole Yellow Sea sediments. The eight sediment

samples taken from CYSM and SWCIM (Table 5,

Youn and Go, 1987; Cho et al., 1999) are not enough

to represent such large areas of more than one-fourth of

the Yellow Sea (>140,000 km2, Lee and Chough,

1989). Moreover, some geochemical data seem to be

even inconceivable. For example, the abnormally low

concentrations of Cr and Al in SWCIM (Youn and Go,

1987) and of Ti in the Yellow Sea sediments (Table 5,

Kim et al., 1998) may be due to the improper analytical

method and/or casual errors rather than representing

the real concentrations of the elements. In addition,

most of previous provenance studies on the Yellow Sea

put emphases on the marine sediment itself, and lack

direct geochemical comparison with Chinese and

Korean river sediments. Geochemical characteristics

of Chinese and Korean river sediments, however, need

to be first detailed in order to reveal their composi-

tional differences and, then, credible source indicators

of these river sediments can be established from the

existing data sets and future study. Especially, compo-

sitions of Korean river sediments have to be docu-

mented more to fill their insufficient data set. For the

comparison of the results from Chinese and Korean

river sediments, sample types (bottom or suspended

sediment) and analytical accuracy (digestion effi-

ciency, instrumental sensitivity, data statistic test,

etc.) have to be checked in detail.

Besides alkaline earth elements (Ca, Sr, Ba) and

some transition metals (Mn, Pb), more elements are

required to be studied in detail in terms of their

regional distribution patterns in the Yellow Sea. Espe-

cially, elements including REE, Sc, Li, Zr, Hf, Nb,

and Be can be widely applied for provenance dis-

criminations of river and marine sediments because

they generally behave conservatively in hypergene

Fig. 11. Discrimination plot of elemental concentrations in magnetite collected from the Changjiang and Huanghe sediments (unit: wt.%, Yang

et al., 2000). Note that their different concentrations in magnetite can be used to identify both river sediments.

S.Y. Yang et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 63 (2003) 93–120114

environment and reside mostly in mineral lattices

(Taylor and McLennan, 1985; Rollinson, 1993; Fra-

lick and Kronberg, 1997). The quite limited applica-

tions of these elements (REE, Ti) for source

identification of the Yellow Sea sediment as discussed

above, however, cannot ultimately reflect the distri-

bution patterns of these elements in the Yellow Sea,

and also, are rarely compared with the compositions

of Chinese and Korean river sediments. Similarly,

study on stable and radioactive isotopes of the Yellow

Sea sediments must be strengthened because recent

advances in the field of analytical instrumentation

make the particular analysis of isotopes more ready

and, more important. This approach has been proved

to be very powerful in provenance study (Haughton et

al., 1991; Asahara et al., 1999; Nohara et al., 1999;

Meng et al., 2000).

Although mineralogy has been widely used to

discriminate sediment sources in previous researches,

nearly all of these attempts focused on mineral

assemblage and distribution pattern, whereas genetic

mineralogy has never been considered fully. Genetic

mineralogical study developed in recent years has

been successfully used to identify provenances of

sandy sediments in North Sea and other areas (Mor-

ton, 1985, 1991; Haughton et al., 1991; Grigsby,

1992; Clift et al., 2001). Genetic mineralogical study

focused on characteristic elements and microstruc-

tures in stable and hydrodynamic-resistant minerals

(such as Zircon, garnet, monazite, Fe–Ti oxides), and

suggested that these features can be used to probe

into provenances. Our recent work revealed that

magnetite collected from the Changjiang and

Huanghe sediments yields remarkably different con-

centrations of trace elements (Al, Ti, Mn, Cr, and V)

and can become a proper source indicator for dis-

criminating both river materials (Fig. 11, Yang et al.,

2000).

Another important path of sediment supply to the

Yellow Sea is aerosol. Annual wind-dust flux to the

Yellow Sea is estimated to be 53.7 g m� 2 year� 1

(Zhang et al., 1993), or accounts for 20–70% of the

total input of mineral materials to the Yellow sea (Gao

et al., 1992). Such a large aeolian matter supply can

considerably change the geochemical composition of

the Yellow Sea sediment, particularly for some tran-

sition metals (Gao et al., 1992; Hong et al., 1997). As

the wind-driven dusts are supplied mostly from the

loess terrain and deserts in northwest China continent,

it may complex the discrimination of the wind-driven

matters from the Huanghe-borne sediments in the

Yellow Sea. However, the influence of wind-driven

matter on the Yellow Sea should be considered care-

fully hereafter.

4. Concluding remarks and suggestions

Although there still have many intractable problems

concerning provenance study in the Yellow Sea,

S.Y. Yang et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 63 (2003) 93–120 115

recently there have been some extensive researches on

this hot issue through international cooperation pro-

grams conducted by China, Korea, and western coun-

tries. Thus, better quality data and substantial

evidences have been gearing up the understanding on

‘‘the problem Yellow Sea’’. In order to better under-

stand the sediment origin and transport pattern in the

Yellow Sea, we suggest the following research topics

as the most basic and practical items for further geo-

chemical work through summarizing the existing doc-

umentation on the provenance discrimination of the

Yellow Sea sediments.

(1) Characteristics of sedimentological, mineralog-

ical, and geochemical compositions of Chinese and

Korean river sediments have to be studied in detail for

the identification of their compositional differences.

Especially, comparative studies on the minerals and

isotopic compositions diagnostic of the origins of

river sediments are needed. As shown in the above

discussion, previous researches have successfully dis-

criminated the Changjiang sediment from the Huanghe

sediment in terms of their remarkably different geo-

chemical compositions. Thus, it is imperative at

present to identify Korean river sediments and dis-

criminate them from Chinese river sediments, for the

provenance study of the Yellow Sea. Our recent data

on rivers (Table 7, Fig. 7), suggest that Korean river

sediments are characterized by higher concentrations

of Rb and Th and lower element ratios of Ti/Nb and

Cr/Th, compared to the Changjiang, Huanghe, and

Yalujiang sediments (Table 7; Fig. 12). REE fractio-

nation parameters of (La/Yb)N are obviously lower in

Table 7

Comparison of elemental concentrations and ratios between Chinese and

Rivers Sample

numbers

Mz Rb Ti

Changjiang 14 6.3 112.9 (12.8)b 5737

Huanghe 20 5.1 81.7 (10.6) 3541

Yalujiang 2 5.6 127.6 (5.0) 4445

Han 2 143.1 (2.8) 4198

Keum 3 7.3 131.7 (0.7) 3933

Yeongsan 2 8.9 153.4 (8.3) 4546

Hana 138.1 (2.6) 3800

Keuma 178.7 (4.0) 4900

Yeongsana 154.4 (0.7) 5100

a Data from Choi and Cho (2001), standing for suspended particle mat

this study.b Data in bracket is standard deviation.

Chinese river sediments (Changjiang, Huanghe, and

Yalujiang) than in Korean river sediments (Han, Keum,

and Yeongsan, Table 7; Fig. 12), indicating stronger

REE fractionation in the latter. Furthermore, the

element ratios of Cr/Th and Ti/Nb as well as (La/

Yb)N are much different between the Han river sedi-

ment and other Korean river sediments (Fig. 12). As

likely, Ti can be used to identify the Changjiang-borne

sediment in terms of higher concentration in it,

whereas Nb is highly enriched in the Yalujiang sedi-

ment (Figs. 7 and 8). These elements are relatively

conservative in river and marine environments and

mostly reside in lattice fraction of sediments (Taylor

and McLennan, 1985; Wang, 1990; Zhao and Yan,

1994), and therefore, these geochemical parameters

can be suggested to discriminate Chinese river sedi-

ments from Korean river materials. Likewise, concen-

trations of Rb are low in the western Yellow Sea

sediments and range between those of Changjiang and

Huanghe sediments (Zhao and Yan, 1994). Never-

theless, more extensive studies on the distribution

patterns of these geochemical indicators in the Yellow

Sea sediments are required to definitely elucidate the

sediment origins.

(2) Recent study on Pb has shown that leaching of

labile fraction from bulk sediments (or sequential

leaching analysis) sheds new light on the provenance

discrimination of the Yellow Sea sediments. Bulk

composition of sediments is the mixture of labile and

residual fractions. Labile fraction can be easily modi-

fied by the change of redox condition, anthropogenic

activity, biogenic and diagenetic effects, while residual

Korean river sediments (unit of Rb, Th and Ti: Ag/g; Mz: U)

Th Ti/Nb Cr/Th (La/Yb)N

(614) 13.4 (1.5) 337 5.5 10.7

(638) 10.4 (2.9) 316 4.6 9.7

(238) 12.0 (0.9) 163 6.2 11.4

(173) 19.0 (0.2) 169 5.3 20.9

(217) 16.1 (0.8) 231 2.8 14.9

(182) 16.2 (0.6) 248 3.2 12.4

25.5 (1.3) 257 2.0 22.1

24.5 (0.7) 191 3.0 18.4

17.9 (4.1) 256 3.0 16.4

ter (SPM); the others represent bank/bottom sediments, measured in

Fig. 12. Discrimination plot of some geochemical parameters

between Chinese (Changjiang, Huanghe, Yalujiang) and Korean

(Han, Keum, Yeongsan) river sediments.

S.Y. Yang et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 63 (2003) 93–120116

fraction is physically and chemically stable, and may

reflect the original composition of source sediments

and rocks in drainage basins more closely. Especially,

this approach seems to be important and necessary in

highly polluted areas of the Yellow Sea.

(3) Grain size effect on concentration of elements

in the Yellow Sea sediments has to be considered

thoroughly because of fairly good relationship be-

tween grain size and geochemical composition, and

diversified sediment types in the Yellow Sea. In view

of sediment characters in the Yellow Sea and previous

researches, we suggest different research approaches

for sandy and muddy sediments. Genetic mineralog-

ical and geochemical methods may be powerful for

coarse-grained sediments, whereas element and iso-

topic geochemistry as well as clay mineralogy will be

effective for fine-grained sediments, including several

muds in the Yellow Sea.

(4) Most of previous researches on provenance

discrimination of the Yellow Sea focused on one

aspect, and lacked comprehensively interdisciplinary

study. Especially, the oceanic circulation patterns asso-

ciated with sediment transport and resuspension in the

Yellow Sea were underestimated and neglected in most

of the previous studies with emphases on geochemistry

and mineralogy. Just as summarized above, oceano-

graphic conditions greatly constrain sediment distribu-

tions in this unique epicontinental sea and, hence, they

should be highlighted for interrelating geochemical and

mineralogical data (Friedman and Sanders, 1978;

Milliman et al., 1986). Moreover, this will become

more important with the increasing acquirements of

high-quality oceanographic data through international

cooperation in the future.

In general, most of the reported geochemical

researches about the Yellow Sea focused on surface

sediments, while core sediment has never been exten-

sively carried out as yet. However, the core data will be

very important and necessary for reconstructing the

provenances and paleo-environmental changes of the

Yellow Sea during the late Quaternary.

Acknowledgements

This work is supported by KORDI program in

Korea (PE 83400) and the National Foundation of

Natural Sciences in China (Grant No. 49976016,

40206008). We are grateful to T.K. Na, Y.Y. Zhao

and C.B. Lee for helpful discussion during the

preparation of this manuscript. We thank M.S. Choi

for chemical analyses. Critical comments by G.M.

Friedman and two anonymous reviewers on the

original manuscript are highly appreciated.

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