Study of Modern Sedimentary Environment in the Xiamen Bay

Key words: 
• Xiamen bay

Abstract: Hierarchical clustering and factor analysis are respectively applied to grainsize and mineral analysis of sediment samples collected at 112 and 35 stations, respectively, in the Xiamen Bay. The results showed that the Xiamen Bay can be divided into three types of depositional environment areas corresponding to its' sedimentary dynamics properties. Fifty kinds of minerals were found in surface sediment samples, including 38 kinds of heavy minerals. The main heavy minerals include magnetite, ilmenite, limonite, hematite, epidote, hornblende, zircon, and so on. Surface sediments in the Xiamen Bay mainly included the suspended particles, discharged from the Jiulongjiang, and the particles materials of efflorescent rock around the Xiamen Bay, and partly came from the Taiwan Strait. Different source of particles was confirmed to be the mainly influencing factor of the characteristics of the minerals’ distribution.