China's Yangtze delta: Geochemical fingerprints reflecting river connection to the sea

• Five geochemical zones identified in the Plio-Pleistocene sediments of Yangtze delta
• Sediment provenance extending to distal Yangtze with east China subsidence
• Three Gorges channelization at 1.0–1.2 Ma of the late Early Pleistocene

This study investigates sediment source to sink relating the connection of the Yangtze River to the sea. A sediment borehole (PD) on the river coast, penetrating thick Quaternary sediments and thin sediments of late Pliocene age down to the bedrock, recorded a change in sediment provenance through time. Geochemical elements and magneto-stratigraphy help identify five zones. Zone I (the late Pliocene–the Early Pleistocene), characterized by Pb, Th, U, Ba, La, Ce, Nd, Hf, Y, Zr, Nb and Mn, indicates a local sediment provenance. This means that the study area was a localized sub-basin. Zone II (the Early Pleistocene–the mid-stage of the Early Pleistocene), with remarkable high Fe, K, As and Rb implies a new sediment provenance joining the sub-basin from the middle Yangtze reach after the opening of the Zhenjiang Gorge. Zone III (the mid-stage of Early Pleistocene–the Middle Pleistocene), featured by Ti, V, Cr, Sr, Sc, Cu, Co, Ni, Mg, Ca, Na and P suggests a further extension of sediment provenance to the upper Yangtze basin, where a large block of the E'mei basalt and carbonate occurs. This suggests that the Three Gorges valley linking the upper and middle Yangtze reaches had developed by that time. Zones IV and V (the Middle Pleistocene–the Holocene) have shown their geochemical similarity to Zone III. Discrimination ratio f(Cr, Th), f(La) and f(K, La), a new approach developed for tracing sediment provenance, confirms a basin-wide sediment source through Zones III–V. These together witness a progressive extension of the sediment provenance towards the upper Yangtze basin, corresponding to the long-term tilting effect of the Cenozoic Topographic Reversal of the eastern China continent. The timing of the Yangtze River running through into the East China Sea appears at ca. 1.0–1.2 Ma (bottom of Zone III).