Turbidity deposits and their provenance: evidence from core SH37 in Shenhu area of the South China Sea

In order to seek for the origin of the turbidite deposits in the Shenhu area of the northern South China Sea, grain size analysis, AMS¹⁴C dating and element geochemical analysis have been carried out for the core of SH37. Grain size distribution and C-M pattern suggest that the core deposits between the interval of 200～300 cm belong to turbidite deposits. The interval is composed of relatively coarse sediments with bad sorting, as EM3 and the ratio of Zr/Rb are rather high. A phenomenon of age reversal is observed. It is speculated that the turbidity current is probably triggered by sea level change or gravity. Rare earth elements and scatter plots of (La/Sm)_UCC-(Gd/Yb)_UCC and (Gd/Yb)_UCC-(Gd/Lu)_UCC suggest that the turbidite sediments are mainly sourced from the Pearl River system and the rivers on the Taiwan Island.