Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Quantifying clay mineral sources in marine sediments by using end-member mixing analysis

  • Original
  • Published:
Geo-Marine Letters Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study applied end-member mixing analysis (EMMA) to clay minerals in Taiwan Strait sediments to determine the proportional contributions from known riverine sources, which are called end-members. Three end-members were thus determined: the rivers of Taiwan (TW), the rivers of Zhu and Min (ZM), and the rivers of Luzon (LZ). The EMMA model yielded strong and unbiased estimates of the clay mineral contents and end-member proportions. The TW end-member dominates the entire strait except for the western coastal area, the ZM end-member dominates the western coastal area, and the LZ end-member dominates the southern strait and the western coastal area. The spatial trends of end-member proportions are comparable with the directions of marine currents.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

Applicable.

References

  • Ali GA, Roy AG, Turmel MC, Courchesne F (2010) Source-to-stream connectivity assessment through end-member mixing analysis. Journal of Hydrology 392:119–135

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biscaye PE (1965) Mineralogy and sedimentation of recent deep-sea clay in the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas and oceans. Geological Society of America Bulletin 76:803–832

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carrera J, Vázquez-Suñé E, Castillo O, Sánchez-Vila X (2004) A methodology to compute mixing ratios with uncertain end-members. Water Resources Research 40:W12101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christophersen N, Hooper RP (1992) Multivariate analysis of streamwater chemical data: the use of principal components analysis for the endmember mixing problem. Water Resources Research 28:99–107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christophersen N, Neal C, Hooper RP, Vogt RD, Andersen S (1990) Modelling streamwater chemistry as a mixture of soilwater end-members–a step towards second-generation acidification models. Journal of Hydrology 116:307–320

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Derrien M, Kim MS, Ock G, Hong S, Cho J, Shin KH, Hur J (2018) Estimation of different source contributions to sediment organic matter in an agricultural-forested watershed using end member mixing analyses based on stable isotope ratios and fluorescence spectroscopy. Science of the Total Environment 618:569–578

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doctor DH, Alexander EC Jr, Petrič M, Kogovšek J, Urbanc J, Lojen S, Stichler W (2006) Quantification of karst aquifer discharge components during storm events through end-member mixing analysis using natural chemistry and stable isotopes as tracers. Hydrogeology Journal 14:1171–1191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dou Y, Yang S, Liu Z, Clift PD, Yu H, Berne S, Shi X (2010) Clay mineral evolution in the central Okinawa Trough since 28 ka: implications for sediment provenance and paleoenvironmental change. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 288:108–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dou Y, Li J, Zhao J, Wei H, Yang S, Bai F, Zhang D, Ding X, Wang L (2014) Clay mineral distributions in surface sediments of the Liaodong Bay, Bohai Sea and surrounding river sediments: Sources and transport patterns. Continental Shelf Research 73:72–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Draper NR, Smith H (1998) Applied regression analysis, third edn. Wiley-Interscience, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Feng H, Gao A, Zhu X, Wang W, Ni G, Peng J (2014) Distribution characteristic of clay minerals contents in Minjiang River and its environmental significance. Journal of Applied Oceanography 33:418–424 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibbs RJ (1977) Clay mineral segregation in the marine environment. Journal of Sedimentology Petrology 47:237–243

    Google Scholar 

  • Gingele FX, De Deckker P, Hillenbrand CD (2001) Clay mineral distribution in surface sediments between Indonesia and NW Australia — source and transport by ocean currents. Marine Geology 179:135–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gracz MB, Moffett MF, Siegel DI, Glaser PH (2015) Analyzing peatland discharge to streams in an Alaskan watershed: an integration of end-member mixing analysis and a water balance approach. Journal of Hydrology 530:667–676

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He M, Zheng H, Huang X, Jia J, Li L (2013) Yangtze River sediments from source to sink traced with clay mineralogy. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 69:60–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holtzapffel T (1985) Les Minéraux Argileux: Préparation, Analyse Diffractométrique et Determination. Société Géologique du Nord, France

    Google Scholar 

  • Hooper RP (2001) Applying the scientific method to small catchment studies: a review of the Panola Mountain experience. Hydrological Processes 15:2039–2050

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hooper RP (2003) Diagnostic tools for mixing models of stream water chemistry. Water Resources Research 39:1055

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hooper RP (2015) End member mixing analysis spreadsheet, HydroShare. http://www.hydroshare.org/resource/9ad1ebc69e9a4eda948ecd33155aae4c/ ()

  • Hooper RP, Christophersen N, Peters NE (1990) Modelling streamwater chemistry as a mixture of soilwater end-members — an application to the Panola Mountain catchment, Georgia, U.S.A. Journal of Hydrology 116:321–343

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hu J, Kawamura H, Li C, Hong H, Jiang Y (2010) Review on current and seawater volume transport through the Taiwan Strait. Journal of Oceanography 66:591–610

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • James AL, Roulet NT (2006) Investigating the applicability of end-member mixing analysis (EMMA) across scale: a study of eight small, nested catchments in a temperate forested watershed. Water Resources Research 42:W08434

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jan S, Wang J, Chern CS, Chao SY (2002) Seasonal variation of the circulation in the Taiwan Strait. Journal of Marine Systems 35:249–268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joerin C, Beven KJ, Iorgulescu I, Musy A (2002) Uncertainty in hydrograph separations based on geochemical mixing models. Journal of Hydrology 255:90–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson AG, Kelley JT (1984) Temporal, spatial, and textural variation in the mineralogy of Mississippi River suspended sediment. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 54:67–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Klaus J, McDonnell JJ (2013) Hydrograph separation using stable isotopes: review and evaluation. Journal of Hydrology 505:47–64

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kruiver PP, Dekkers MJ, Heslop D (2001) Quantification of magnetic coercivity components by the analysis of acquisition curves of isothermal remanent magnetisation. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 189:269–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li Y, Li AC, Huang P, Xu FJ, Zheng XF (2014) Clay minerals in surface sediment of the north Yellow Sea and their implication to provenance and transportation. Continental Shelf Research 90:33–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li T, Sun G, Ma S, Liang K, Yang C, Li B, Luo W (2016) Inferring sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sediments from the western Taiwan Strait through end-member mixing analysis. Marine Pollution Bulletin 112:166–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li J, Liu S, Shi X, Feng X, Fang X, Cao P, Sun X, Ye W, Khokiattiwong S, Kornkanitnan N (2017) Distributions of clay minerals in surface sediments of the middle Bay of Bengal: source and transport pattern. Continental Shelf Research 145:59–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li T, Sun G, Yang C, Liang K, Ma S, Huang L, Luo W (2019) Source apportionment and source-to-sink transport of major and trace elements in coastal sediments: combining positive matrix factorization and sediment trend analysis. Science of the Total Environment 651:344–356

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu Z, Colin C, Huang W, Le KP, Tong S, Chen Z, Trentesaux A (2007a) Climatic and tectonic controls on weathering in south China and Indochina Peninsula: clay mineralogical and geochemical investigations from the Pearl, Red, and Mekong drainage basins. Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems 8:Q05005

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu JP, Xu KH, Li AC, Milliman JD, Velozzi DM, Xiao SB, Yang ZS (2007b) Flux and fate of Yangtze River sediment delivered to the East China Sea. Geomorphology 85:208–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu F, Bales RC, Conklin MH, Conrad ME (2008a) Streamflow generation from snowmelt in semi-arid, seasonally snow-covered, forested catchments, Valles Caldera, New Mexico. Water Resources Research 44:W12443

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu Z, Tuo S, Colin C, Liu JT, Huang CY, Selvaraj K, Chen CTA, Zhao Y, Siringan FP, Boulay S, Chen Z (2008b) Detrital fine-grained sediment contribution from Taiwan to the northern South China Sea and its relation to regional ocean circulation. Marine Geology 255:149–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu Z, Zhao Y, Colin C, Siringan FP, Wu Q (2009) Chemical weathering in Luzon, Philippines from clay mineralogy and major-element geochemistry of river sediments. Applied Geochemistry 24:2195–2205

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu Z, Colin C, Li X, Zhao Y, Tuo S, Chen Z, Siringan FP, Liu JT, Huang CY, You CF, Huang KF (2010) Clay mineral distribution in surface sediments of the northeastern South China Sea and surrounding fluvial drainage basins: Source and transport. Marine Geology 277:48–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu Z, Zhao Y, Colin C, Stattegger K, Wiesner MG, Huh CA, Zhang Y, Li X, Sompongchaiyakul P, You CF, Huang CY, Liu JT, Siringan FP, Le KP, Sathiamurthy E, Hantoro WS, Liu J, Tuo S, Zhao S, Zhou S, He Z, Wang Y, Bunsomboonsakul S, Li Y (2016) Source-to-sink transport processes of fluvial sediments in the South China Sea. Earth-Science Reviews 153:238–273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCune B, Mefford MJ (1999) PC-ORD. Multivariate analysis of ecological data (version 5.0). MjM Software, Oregon

    Google Scholar 

  • Milliman JD, Farnsworth KL (2011) River discharge to the coastal ocean: a global synthesis. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

  • Naidu AS, Mowatt TC (1983) Sources and dispersal patterns of clay minerals in surface sediments from the continental-shelf areas off Alaska. Geological Society of America Bulletin 94:841–854

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Naidu AS, Han MW, Mowatt TC, Wajda W (1995) Clay minerals as indicators of sources of terrigenous sediments, their transportation and deposition: Bering Basin, Russian-Alaskan Arctic. Marine Geology 127:87–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Naidu AS, Goering JJ, Kelley JJ, Venkatesan MI (2001) Historical changes in trace metals and hydrocarbons in the inner shelf sediments, Beaufort Sea: prior and subsequent to petroleum-related industrial developments. Final Report. OCS Study MMS 2001-061, Coastal Marine Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 80 pp.

  • Petschick R, Kuhn G, Gingele F (1996) Clay mineral distribution in surface sediments of the South Atlantic: sources, transport, and relation to oceanography. Marine Geology 130:203–229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharman GR, Johnstone SA (2017) Sediment unmixing using detrital geochronology. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 477:183–194

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singer A (1984) The paleoclimatic interpretation of clay minerals in sediments — a review. Earth-Science Reviews 21:251–293

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sionneau T, Bout-Roumazeilles V, Biscaye PE, Vliet-Lanoe BV, Bory A (2008) Clay mineral distributions in and around the Mississippi River watershed and Northern Gulf of Mexico: sources and transport patterns. Quaternary Science Reviews 27:1740–1751

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Uhlenbrook S, Frey M, Leibundgut C, Maloszewski P (2002) Hydrograph separations in a mesoscale mountainous basin at event and seasonal timescales. Water Resources Research 38:1096

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weltje GJ (1997) End-member modeling of compositional data: numerical-statistical algorithms for solving the explicit mixing problem. Mathematical Geology 29:503–549

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitehouse UG, Jeffrey LM, Debrecht JD (1960) Differential settling tendencies of clay minerals in saline waters. In: Swineford A (ed) Clays and clay minerals, Proc. 7th Natl. Conf. Pergamon Press, Oxford, pp 1–79

    Google Scholar 

  • Woronow A (1991) Endmember unmixing of compositional data. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 55:2351–2353

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu K, Milliman JD, Li A, Liu JP, Kao SJ, Wan S (2009) Yangtze- and Taiwan-derived sediments on the inner shelf of East China Sea. Continental Shelf Research 29:2240–2256

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the crew of the marine survey cruise of the western Taiwan Strait for their assistance with collecting samples. Special thanks are due to Weiguo Wang of the Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, for his help in the clay mineral analysis.

Funding

This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41776112) and the Chinese Special Survey of Marine Geology (DD20190627, DD20191002, GZH201400208, GZH201400207).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey, China Geological Survey, No. 188 Guanghai Road, Huangpu District, Guangzhou, 510760, China

    Tao Li, Guanqiang Cai, Kai Liang, Shengzhong Ma & Weidong Luo

  2. Gemological Institute, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Chaowen Wang

Authors
  1. Tao Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Guanqiang Cai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Chaowen Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Kai Liang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Shengzhong Ma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Weidong Luo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Tao Li, Guanqiang Cai, Kai Liang, Shengzhong Ma, and Weidong Luo designed the research; Tao Li analyzed the data and wrote the paper; Chaoweng Wang revised the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tao Li.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Code availability

Applicable.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary information

ESM 1

(PDF 350 kb)

ESM 2

(PDF 533 kb)

ESM 3

(PDF 242 kb)

ESM 4

(PDF 134 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Li, T., Cai, G., Wang, C. et al. Quantifying clay mineral sources in marine sediments by using end-member mixing analysis. Geo-Mar Lett 41, 6 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-020-00674-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-020-00674-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation