OSL and radiocarbon dating of core TBF-1 on the outer shelf of the East China Sea and implications for late Quaternary stratigraphic correlation

Abstract

It is crucial to establish a robust chronology for understanding late Quaternary sedimentation processes and environment changes in response to sea-level fluctuation on shelves. The shelf of the East China Sea (ECS) is featured by huge terrigenous sediment input and striking land -sea interaction during the late Quaternary. However, there remains controversy in chronostratigraphic rebuilding of transgression and regression deposits during eustatic-glacial cycles, mainly due to a lack of reliable dating data. In this study, an extensive comparison of 17 optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and 15 AMS ¹⁴C ages from core TBF-1 (upper 40 m) provides a constraint in chronostratigraphic reconstruction since Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5. OSL ages range from 9.5 ± 0.7 to 67.3 ± 4.8 ka at depths from 2.00 to 28.00 m, while ¹⁴C ages range from 6645 to 41435 cal a BP at depths from 0.02 to 17.52 m. Regression analysis demonstrates a high level of agreement between OSL and ¹⁴C ages, with r² values of 0.91 and 0.90, respectively. For Holocene sediments (U1), both OSL and ¹⁴C methods are applicable in tidal sand ridges, however, it should be noted that ¹⁴C ages may exhibit a young bias of up to 3 ka. For pre-Holocene sediments (U6-U2), OSL ages are robust within saturation limitation of OSL signal (D_e up to ca. 166 Gy), cross-checked by feldspar post-IR IRSL (pIRIR) dating protocol. Nevertheless, the shell ¹⁴C ages (11620 and 10390 cal a BP at depths of 13.95–14.56 m) in Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) fluvial sediments of U2 are significantly underestimated, because of their susceptibility to recrystallization and overgrowth, resulting in carbon exchange with environment. While the peaty layer's¹⁴C age in deltaic deposition (17.50 m, U5) was determined to be 36420 cal a BP, coincided with OSL age of 39.6 ± 3.9 ka. The chronostratigraphy since MIS 5 for core TBF-1 exhibits a significant correlation with previously published cores SFK-1, DZQ4, and DH02, on the ECS outer shelf. Through the evaluation of those underestimated ¹⁴C ages and saturated OSL ages, we re-elucidated the primary sedimentary facies and their respective formation periods. This sedimentary stratigraphic illustration exhibits significant consistency with eustatic-glacial cycles. The renewed chronological framework for ECS shelf allows better correlation between the late Quaternary sedimentary evolution and the land-sea interaction on open shelves dominated by siliciclastic sedimentation.