Assemblages of benthic foraminifera in a sediment core(C02)near the western margin of the southern Yellow Sea Mud were studied to decipher the phase evolution of Holocene paleoenvironmental changes associated with the Holocene marine transgression.It appears that during the early Holocene(11.2 10.1 kyr BP),the faunal was dominated by low salinity and shallow water species Cribrononion subincertum,Buccella frigida and Ammonia beccarii,reflecting a near coast depositional environment.A rapid increase of the relative abundance of Ammonia compressiuscula between 10.1 9.3 kyr BP indicates that the sea level rose rapidly during that time period.From 9.3 7.7 kyr BP,the benthic foraminiferal assemblage was dominated by high percentage of A.compressiscula,suggesting that the sea level was relatively stable.An obvious transition of benthic foraminifera,from the A.compressiuscula-dominated assemblage to an Ammonia ketienziensis-dominated assemblage,occurred between 7.7 6.2 kyr BP,possibly corresponding to a second sea level rapid rise period in the Yellow Sea during the Holocene.This transition may correspond to the gradually strengthened Yellow Sea warm current(YSWC)and finally is established the modern-type circulation in the Yellow Sea.It may also mark the formation of the Yellow Sea cold bottom water(YSCBW)during that period.Since then,the benthic foraminiferal assemblage based on core C02 was dominated by typical YSCBW species,A.ketienziensis,Astrononion italicum and Hanzawaia nipponica,at 6.2 4 kyr BP.A non-deposition period occurred since 4 kyr BP,which possibly related to the hydrology changes caused by the East Asia monsoon.The two obvious benthic foraminiferal transitions recorded in core C02 during the early and middle Holocene provide evidence that the Yellow Sea has undergone a two-phase rapid sea level rise during the Holocene marine transgression.
Using a planktonic net(62-?m mesh) and a Rose-Bengal staining method, we studied the spatial distribution of living radiolarians in spring along two sections of the South China Sea(SCS) in spring and discussed the responses of living radiolarian distribution to tropical environmental factors. Generally, the highest abundance of living radiolarians occurred at the depth range of 25–75 m, where the chlorophyll-a maximum and the highest primary productivity were. In contrast, the maximum living abundance occurred in the top 25 m in cold eddies in the open seas and the abundance decreased with depth. We found that the inhibition effect of changing salinity(due to runoffs) on living radiolarians was much stronger than the promotion effect of mesoscale cold eddies. We observed that large variation of temperature was unfavorable for living radiolarians. The dominant species composition consisted of tropical-subtropical warm species. We identified some indicator species for tropical environments. Living Didymocyrtis tetrathalamus tetrathalamus could be an indicator for tropical surface water or mixed-layer water, and even for tropical oligotrophic water. Living Tetrapyle octacantha could be used to indicate tropical thermocline and eutrophic environment. Living Acanthodesmia vinculata could indicate tropical surface and subsurface waters. T. octacantha and A. vinculata should only be used as indicators for upwelling in the open seas, i.e., far away from river mouths. Living Siphonosphaera polysiphonia preferred to form colonies, which might be related to the effect of warm eddies. Living Cyrtopera laguncula and living Cornutella profunda occurred in the tropical upper layer, even in the surface layer, which suggests that they should not be used as indicators for intermediate and deep waters.
HU WeiFenZHANG LanLanCHEN MuHongZENG LiLiZHOU WeiHuaXIANG RongZHANG QiangLIU ShiHao
