Exploiting sedimentation datasets to model the impact of sediment loading on sea level at the Yellow River Delta

Abstract:

In order to accurately depict glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) of the solid Earth and consequent sea level, it is necessary to incorporate the loading and unloading of the crust occurring over glacial cycles in the form of sediment erosion and deposition. The inclusion of sediment loading in GIA models becomes even more imperative when studying sea level at densely populated centers along coastlines, many of which are located at large river deltas. Sediment deposition at deltas influences sea level by introducing a load, which in turn alters crustal elevation and perturbs the gravitational field. These sediment loads vary in space and time over glacial cycles, as deltas prograde during sea-level highstands and shelves are exposed during lowstands. The Yellow River serves as an archetypical case study of fluvial response to glacial cycles. Draining the highly erodible, glacially derived Loess Plateau, the Yellow River’s sediment flux is the 2^nd highest in the world. This site provides an ideal location for modeling sediment loads in order to investigate how glacial cycles control sedimentation history and regional sea level. This study employs datasets constraining deposition and erosion that are physically recorded in dated sediment cores, seismic sections, and river flux measurements. These sedimentary datasets elucidate how loading varies spatially and with time in the basin, but also, importantly, data of fossil-bearing cores act to constrain sea level history during this period. Thus, we utilize physical sedimentary data as both an input to our model and a check on the predicted local sea level. Our gravitationally self-consistent global model is then capable of exploring and constraining how evolving sediment loads and migrating depositional centers impact local predicted crustal deformation, and therefore sea-level, over glacial timescales.