Holocene coral reef development is valuable to understanding the behavior and impacts of paleoclimate and sea level changes. This study focuses on the Holocene carbonate sequences of a drill core extracted from Well CK2 in the northern South China Sea (SCS). This drill core consists of an 873.55 m thick carbonate layer overlying 55.20 m of volcanic basement. High precision U-series dating of 22 coral samples suggests that the Holocene coral reef, which has a thickness of 16.7 m, initiated at ~7800 yr BP (years before 1950 CE) and stopped vertical accretion at 3900 yr BP. The mean vertical accretion rate in the Holocene in Well CK2 was 3.48 m kyr⁻¹, varying from 6.44 m kyr⁻¹ during 7800–6000 yr BP to 0.87 m kyr⁻¹ during 6000–3900 yr BP. After 3900 yr BP, the vertical development of the reef ceased, indicating that the reef development likely involved lateral accretion. The Holocene section mostly consists of unconsolidated coarse sediments, mainly including corals, coralline algae, large benthic foraminifera, and mollusks. Based on the relationship between coral reef development and sea level, together with the age profile, we determined that the relative sea level near Chenhang Island rose rapidly between 7800 and 6000 yr BP, slowed at ~6000 yr BP, and reached a position of about 2 m above the present-day mean sea level by 3900 yr BP. After 3900 yr BP, the sea level was stable or fell, resulting in a cessation in the reef's upward development.

全新世珊瑚礁的发育对于了解古气候和海平面变化的行为和影响很有价值。本研究的重点是从南海北部 (SCS) CK2 井提取的钻芯的全新世碳酸盐岩层序。该钻芯由覆盖 55.20 m 火山基底的 873.55 m 厚碳酸盐层组成。22 个珊瑚样本的高精度 U 系列测年表明，厚度为 16.7 m 的全新世珊瑚礁开始于约 7800 年 BP（公元 1950 年之前），并在 3900 年 BP 时停止垂直吸积。CK2井全新世平均垂直吸积率为3.48 m kyr ^-1，从7800-6000 yr BP的6.44 m kyr ^-1到0.87 m kyr ^-1在 6000-3900 年 BP 期间。3900 yr BP 后，生物礁垂直发育停止，表明生物礁发育可能涉及横向增生。全新世部分主要由松散的粗沉积物组成，主要包括珊瑚、珊瑚藻、大型底栖有孔虫和软体动物。根据珊瑚礁发育与海平面的关系，结合年龄剖面，我们确定陈行岛附近的相对海平面在7800~6000 yr BP之间迅速上升，在~6000 yr BP时放缓，并达到约到 3900 年 BP，比现在的平均海平面高 2 m。3900 年 BP 后，海平面稳定或下降，导致珊瑚礁停止向上发展。