Rare- and dispersed-element distributions in the suspensate-bottom sediment system on the shelf of the East China Sea

The solid load of rivers is a principal source in the material balance in the World Ocean. However, river suspensates are fractionated by dynamic, physicochemical, and biological processes. It has been established that the main process that causes spatial variations in element concentration in the suspensate at the mouth of the Mekong and adjacent part of the South China Sea (equatorial zone) is stirring of the upper layer of bottom sediment due to tides; in the Razdol'naya R. amd Gulf of Amur (temperate zone) the decisive factor is biological processes. Such processes are of interest on the shelf of the East China Sea, which lies in an intermediate climatic zone and receives solid material from major rivers, the Yangtse and Huangho. The paper evaluates the role of terrigenous rocks and the effects of authigenic processes on the variability of the levels of various rare and dispersed elements in the suspensate and bottom sediments on the part of the shelf directly affected by the Yangtse. -from Journal summary