Quantitative links between fluvial sediment discharge, trapped terrigenous flux and sediment accumulation, and implications for temporal and spatial distributions of sediment fluxes

The southwestern-most Okinawa Trough (SOT), characterized by high sedimentation rates (>0.1 cm/yr), has the potential for recording high-resolution episodic events, such as storm floods and seismic activities, at least on a regional scale. To retrieve data on past climate change from nearby sediment cores and quantitatively reconstruct it, particularly with respect to precipitation (or typhoon-induced flood events), a linkage between fluvial sediment discharge and terrigenous sediment flux is warranted. Apparent sediment fluxes, observed with four arrays of sediment traps deployed in the SOT, were found to vary with fluvial sediment discharges. Empirical equations for individual arrays of sediment traps are site-dependent and related to the scenario of initial supply, transport and final deposition of terrigenous sediments (i.e. land–sea interaction). Using these equations and hydrological data from 1950 to 2000, the long-term temporal and spatial variations of settling sediment fluxes were simulated. Simulation results agree well with sediment mass accumulation rates derived from literature data on 210Pb and 137Cs chronology. The simulated spatial patterns of sediment fluxes along a slope–trough section illustrate that sediment plumes can disperse concurrently in two manners, namely near-bottom and mid-depth plumes, and the flood-driven plumes can travel very long distances, approaching 125°E or beyond. The sediment burial budget in the SOT was estimated to be approximately 5.2 Mt/yr, representing about 80% of riverine exports from the Lanyang Hsi, Taiwan. This is the first study dealing qualitatively and quantitatively with two parameters, namely terrigenous sediment flux and fluvial sediment discharge.