Sediment accumulation rates and budgets of depositing particles of the East China Sea

To understand sedimentary processes of depositing particles in the marginal sea, we measured sediment accumulation rates of 11 cores collected from the East China Sea. Sediment accumulation rates were calculated using excess 210Pb profiles in the sediment column. The results show that sediment accumulation rates decrease from 1.8 in the inner shelf to 0.049 g cm −2 yr −1 to the Okinawa Trough. Organic carbon (org. C) accumulation rates ranged from 0.42 to 3.1 mg C cm −2 yr −1 and were higher in the shelf edge and the slope areas. Compared with the results of the sediment trap experiments, these results indicate that lateral transport plays an important role in particle accumulation in the trough area.