Increased contribution of terrigenous supply from Taiwan to the northern South China Sea since 3 Ma

Seismic profiles provide evidence that there has been strong transport by deep-water bottom currents and drift deposition on the northern slope of the South China Sea. Earlier geochemical studies suggest that the drift sediments originated primarily from Taiwan. However, the transport process, history and origin of the deep-water bottom deposition in the northern South China Sea, on both glacial–interglacial and tectonic time scales, remain unclear. Here, we show new high-resolution records of clay minerals, grain size and mass accumulation rate (MAR) of terrigenous materials from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1144, together with trace element concentrations in siliciclastic sediments from ODP Site 1146. Combined with other published data, we find that the primary source for sediments at ODP Sites 1144–1148 since 3 Ma is from Taiwan, and not from Pearl River as previously thought. Before 3 Ma, however, sediment source to ODP Sites 1146 and 1148 was mainly from the Pearl River. Increased contribution of terrigenous supply from Taiwan to the northern South China Sea since ~ 3 Ma may be related to the formation of the Taiwan orogen and strengthening of deep-water bottom current transport in the northern South China Sea. Variations in clay mineralogy and sedimentology at ODP Site 1144, located on a sediment drift, shows strong glacial–interglacial cyclicity. This suggests that bottom current deposition is highly dependent on sea-level fluctuations, which control the terrigenous supply to the deep sea.