Depositional Processes of Fine-Grained Sediments and Foraminiferal Imprint of Estuarine Circulation by Summer Floods in Yoja Bay, Southern Coast of Korea

Abstract

Depositional processes of fine-grained sediments were investigated on the basis of sediment transport vector analysis and identification of benthic foraminiferal assemblages in Yoja Bay, southern coast of Korea. The bay is a semi-enclosed embayment where extensive mud flats occur with a width up to about 4 km. Most surface sediments are poorly sorted (sorting values: 1.9-3.0 ϕ ) mud and silt (mean grain size: 6.0-8.7 ϕ ), except for the tidal inlets with basement rocks locally exposed. Grain-size distribution shows a fining tendency toward the basin center near the Yoja Island, implying a possible existence of turbidity maximum and relatively rapid settling of fine-grained sediments. The agglutinated foraminiferal taxa are dominant in the inner bay and decrease in abundance toward the mouth of the bay. Species diversities are higher in the outer bay, due to mixing of the offshore faunas with those of the bay. Four groups of benthic foraminiferal assemblages, identified by cluster analysis, represent the bay. Biofacies I and ll with relatively lower diversities are dominated by Ammobaculites exiguus and Ammonia beccarii, suggestive of influx of fresh water. In contrast, biofacies III and IV with relatively higher diversities include increased amounts of calcareous genus Elphidium and Quinquelocuzina, accounting for strong influence of sea water from the offshore. The fluvial discharge in summer floods appears to develop a bay-wide, clockwise lateral circulation in Yoja Bay, a typical of well-mixed estuaries. Accordingly, the foraminiferal assemblages of the surface sediments well show a sign of this circulation. The dominant inflow of the offshore water into the western part of the bay has resulted in more extensive muddy tidal flats compared to the eastern narrower counterpart.