Late Quaternary high-resolution stratigraphic reconstruction of the East Sea sediment cores based on high resolution images and color parameters

Abstract

Using the 3-CCD (charge-coupled device) line scan camera equipped within the Avaatech XRF-Core Scanner, high resolution images and color parameters were estimated from the 3 sediment cores (05GCRP-13, 14, 15), which were taken from the western margin of the East Sea. Based on the high resolution images and color parameters, a precise stratigraphy can be established for the 3 sediment cores. For the establishment of a precise stratigraphy, lightness values (L*), AMS 14C dating and 5 tephra layers deposited in the sediment core 05GCRP-15 are used to correlate with those data recorded in the core MD01-2407 which was retrieved from the Oki Ridge of the southeastern East Sea. According to the precise age model, the 3 investigated sediment cores are likely to represent the paleoceanographic record during the last about 94 ka BP (since the MIS 5.2). In particular, color parameters such L*, a* and b* can be used for the correlation between sediment cores recovered from the East Sea. Moreover, these color parameters are closely related with any chemical composition such as organic carbon and/or carbonate contents. Furthermore, the East Sea sediments that are characterized by alternations of dark and light layers seemed to well reflect the paleoceanographic changes during the late Quaternary glacial-interglacial cycles. These dark and light cycles on millennial scales are well matched the D-O (Dansgaard-Oeschger) cycles recorded in the NGRIP (North Greenland Ice Sheet Project) ice core δ18O data. As a result, the high resolution images together with color parameters can be used as a reliable proxy for establishing a precise stratigraphy as well as the paleoceanographic reconstruction in the East Sea during the late Quaternary.