CONSTRAINT OF SEDIMENT GRAIN-SIZE TO ELEMENT CHEMISTRY: A CASE FROM THE SHANDONG-LIAODONG PENINSULAS

The grain-size and the major-minor element characteristics of 135 surface sediment samples from the sea area around the Shandong-Liaodong Peninsula are analyzed to study the control of grain-size and sediment types over geochemical composition. The results reveal that the major-minor element composition is closely related to sediment grain-size.The SiO₂ content is negatively related to the average grain-size. Instead, Al₂O₃、Fe₂O₃、MgO、TiO₂、Cr、V、Zn、Co、Ni、Cu are positively related to the average of grain-size. However,CaO、K₂O、MnO、Na₂O、P₂O₅、Ba、Sr、Zr、Pb do not show any obvious relation with the average grain-size. The element composition in the four kinds of sediments of sand, silty sand, sandy silt and silt are also different.TheMean(s)/Mean(t) values of major elements are close to 1 in silty sand and show similar trend in sand.TheMean(s)/Mean(t)values of sandy silt and silt change greatly and most of the values are greater than 1 expect for SiO₂and K₂O. The distribution of minor elements in the fine sediments of silt and sandy-silt is similar of which both show drastic great variations; the coarse sediments of sand and silty sand, however, have small changes and the values ofMean(s)/Mean(t) are less than 1.The SiO₂/TiO₂ and Al₂O₃/TiO₂widely distributed sandy siltare used to indicate the transport distance in modern rivers. It reveals that materials from Yellow River can transport to middle of the Bohai Sea(121.5°E) and then to South Yellow Sea along the Shandong Peninsula, and the materials from the Korean Peninsula are deposited to the east of 123°E.