SCIENCE CHINA
Life Sciences
• RESEARCH PAPER •
January 2013
Vol.56 No.1: 1–10
doi: ?
Distribution, formation and evolution of sand ridges on the East
China Sea shelf
WU ZiYin1,2,3*, JIN XiangLong1,2,3, CAO ZhenYi2, LI JiaBiao1,2, ZHENG YuLong1,2
& SHANG JiHong1,2*
1
Key Lab of Submarine Geosciences, State Oceanic Administration, Hangzhou 310012, China;
Second Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Hangzhou 310012, China;
3
Department of Earth Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310028, China
2
Received March 20, 2009; accepted June 28, 2009
Based on the integrated results of multiple data types including MBES (Multi-Beam Echo Sounding) and historical topography
maps, the LSR (Linear Sand Ridges) on the ECS (East China Sea) shelf are identified, divided into subareas, and classified.
The distribution of sand ridge crests is also established. The strikes of the LSR on the ECS shelf fall in a normal distribution
with the center point being 155° azimuth with additional peak points at 125°, 130°, 140°, and 180° azimuth. The distribution of
the ECS shelf sand ridges is congested in the central area, sparse in the south and north ends, divergent and bifurcated in the
eastern area, and densely convergent in the western area. The LSR are divided into seven subzones according to the strikes and
distribution of the sand ridges; estuary mouth ridges and open shelf sand ridges are identified and marked out. The high amplitude change of sea level resulting from the glacial-interglacial cycle is the main cause of the vast development of sand ridges
on the ECS shelf. Abundant sediments on the shelf carried by the PYR (Paleo-Yangtze River) are the material source for the
LSR formation, and the negative seafloor topography influences the strikes of LSR. Based on the effects of LSR distribution,
change of sea level, and the simulation of ancient tidal currents, the evolution of the LSR on the ECS shelf is divided into four
main stages: Stage I before 14.5 ka BP, Stage II between 12 and 14 ka BP, Stage III from 1.5 to 9.5 ka BP, and Stage IV after 9
ka BP.
East China Sea shelf, linear sand ridges, genetic mechanism, evolution of sand ridges, multi-beam echo sounding
Citation:
Open Access
?, et al. ?. Sci China Life Sci, 2013, 56: 1–6,
doi: ?
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction
in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
*Corresponding author (email: niyunyan@yahoo.com.cn)
© The Author(s) 2013. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
life.scichina.com
www.springer.com/scp
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Wu Z Y, et al.
Sci China Life Sci
January (2013) Vol.56 No.1
Wu Z Y, et al.
Sci China Life Sci
January (2013) Vol.56 No.1
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