A high-resolution clay mineralogical record in the northern South China Sea since the Last Glacial Maximum,and its time series provenance analysis

High-resolution clay mineralogical analysis of Core MD05-2904 in the northern South China Sea (SCS) covering the period since the Last Glacial Maximum shows that illite (29%–48%), smectite (14%–45%), chlorite (17%–28%), and minor kaolinite (6%–14%) comprise the clay mineral assemblage, and that time series variation does not present glacial-interglacial cyclicity. Provenance analysis indicates three end-member sources: almost all smectite derives from Luzon, all kaolinite is sourced from the Pearl River, and illite and chlorite originate from both the Pearl River and Taiwan. By comparing clay mineral compositions in surface sediments from the three major source areas and of the SCS, we reconstructed a time series of clay mineral contribution from the major provenances to the northern slope of the SCS using the linear separation method for illite crystallinity. There were three stages of provenance change. (1) During 24.1–17.5 ka BP, contributions from Taiwan and Luzon were similar (30%–40%), while that from the Pearl River was only 25%. (2) During 17.5–14.0 ka BP, the contribution from Luzon decreased rapidly to 20%–25%, while that from Taiwan increased to 35% from an average of 25% at 18 ka BP, and that from the Pearl River increased largely to 40%. (3) During the Holocene, differences in contributions from the three major provenances increased: the contribution from Luzon increased slightly and then remained at 27%–35%, that from Taiwan increased rapidly and then remained at 55%–60%, and that from the Pearl River decreased to 15%. The change in clay mineral contributions from different provenances is influenced mainly by clay mineral production, monsoon rainfall denudation, oceanic current transport, and sea-level change.