Major and trace element geochemistry of the mid-Bay of Bengal surface sediments： implications for provenance

• Published in: Acta oceanologica Sinica Vol. 36; no. 3; pp. 82 - 90
• Main Authors: Li, Jingrui, Liu, Shengfa, Feng, Xiuli, Sun, Xingquan, Shi, Xuefa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing The Chinese Society of Oceanography 01.03.2017; Springer Nature B.V; College of Marine Geosciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China; Key Laboratory of Marine Sedimentology and Environmental Geology, The First Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Qingdao 266061, China%College of Marine Geosciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China
• Subjects: Brackish; Climatology; Coastal currents; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Ecology; Engineering Fluid Dynamics; Environmental Chemistry; Geochemistry; Marine; Marine & Freshwater Sciences; Oceanography; Rivers; Sediment; Sediment samplers; Sediment samples; Sediments; Surface circulation; Trace elements; Turbidity; Turbidity currents; Water currents; Bay of Bengal; major and trace element; provenance; quantification; factor analyses; Bay of Bengal
• ISSN: 0253-505X; 1869-1099
• DOI: 10.1007/s13131-017-1041-z

The major and trace elements in 110 surface sediment samples collected from the middle of the Bay of Bengal（mid-Bay of Bengal） are analyzed to investigate provenance. Si levels are highest, followed by Al, and the distributions of these two elements are identical. The average CIA＊（chemical index of alteration） value is 72.07,indicating that the degree of weathering of the sediments in the study area is intermediate between those of sediments of the Himalayan and Indian rivers. Factor analyses and discrimination function analyses imply that the two main provenances are the Himalayan and the Indian continent. The inverse model calculation of the Tinormalized element ratios of the Bay of Bengal sediments indicate an estimated average contribution of 83.5%and 16.5% from the Himalayan and peninsular Indian rivers to the study area, respectively. The Himalayan source contributes more sediment to the eastern part of the study area, whereas the western part receives more sediment from the Indian Peninsula than did the eastern part. The primary mechanisms for deposition of sediments in the study area are the transport of Himalayan matter by turbidity currents and river-diluted water and the transport of Indian matter to the study area by a surface circulation in the Bay of Bengal, particularly the East India Coastal Current.