The Middle and Late Holocene climate change in Bohai Bay revealed by diatom proxy

A total of 98 samples from two boreholes in shallow sea area and two oyster reefs in adjacent coastal plain in the northwestern coast of Bohai Bay were collected for diatom analyses and species identification.The ratio of the marine species Thalassionema nitzschioides to the intertidal-coastal species complex Cyclotella striata/stylorum serves as a novel proxy for assessing the strength of marine influence.Chronological data,corrected for the local residence time effect,facilitated the construction of a diatom proxy-based marine influence curve for the study area.This curve delineates the dynamics of marine influence and their correlations with paleo-climate fluctuations and the East Asian monsoon variability,as well as their role in chenier formation.Results include:(1)eight periods of intensified marine influence have been documented since 7000 a BP in the study area.The peak of each period,as determined by the diatom proxy,corresponds closely to the warm climatic phases and stronger East Asian summer monsoons,suggesting that the peaks marine influence indicate typically the periods of climatic warmth and monsoon activity intensification in the region;(2)a strong correlation exists between the development of cheniers and marine influence,and chenier formation began with the increasing marine influence and terminated at the end of warm periods as marine influence weakens.The climatic changes in the coastal area,as indicated by the diatom proxy,hold significant potential for future related research endeavors.

Holocene sea level trend on the west coast of Bohai Bay,China: reanalysis and standardization

Using 110 newly revised Holocene sea level indicators categorized into three types,sediments(67),shelly cheniers(27)and oyster reefs(16),this paper firstly provides a Holocene relative sea level curve,based on multiple approaches of litho-and biostratigraphies and sedimentary faces analysis,for the west coast of Bohai Bay,China.Following considerations,including indicative meaning,the paleo tidal pattern and range and conversion from mean tidal level to mean sea level,an apparent relative mean sea level(RMSL)curve was further reconstructed.After systematical calibration using CALIB,those of the 48 reworked samples were further corrected for the residence-time effect.Similarly,the younger ages for another 35 samples were chosen at the subsample level.These result in a younger-oriented shift for about 0.5 ka.Three local spatial factors,including neotectonic subsidence(average rate about 0.1 mm/a),self-compaction of unconsolidated sediments(between a few decimeters to about 6 m)and subsidence due to groundwater withdrawal(between a few centimeters to about 2.5 m),were quantitatively corrected.Finally,the amended RMSL curve after eliminating all these local temporo-spatial factors is very likely to show non-existence of mid-Holocene highstand and imply potential influences of both ice-volume equivalent sea level and regional glacial isostatic adjustment.Although it is still unable to divide both global and regional factors,the slowdown of sea level rise,in 7.5–6.8 ka with a maximum height less than+1 m,may constrain the model effort in the near future.