Publication Date:
2016-06-23
Description:
Extract The marginal seas of eastern Asia are supplied by some of the largest, and most sediment-rich, rivers on Earth. Many of these rivers have their original sources on the Tibetan Plateau and are fed by the rains of the summer monsoon that are especially intense around the edge of the plateau (Fig. 1). In turn, the climate and tectonically generated topography account for the high sediment loads of the rivers that subsequently construct a number of giant deltas across the region and result in the construction of some of the widest continental shelves seen anywhere globally. Understanding the marine sedimentary records of the East Asian marginal seas has been a focus for geologists for many years. This is because the sediments can be used to constrain the origin of the sedimentary basins themselves, via subsidence analysis, and because the sediments can be used to reconstruct sedimentary conditions onshore in the terrestrial basins at the time of their deposition. Theoretically, the weathering conditions, floral assemblages, and both erosion rates and patterns within the drainage basin might be reconstructed from the sediment deposited within the deltas and under the shelves. ... This 250-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract.
Print ISSN:
0305-8719
Electronic ISSN:
2041-4927
Topics:
Geosciences
