TIME SCALE OF “SOURCE TO SINK” PROCESS-SEDIMENT TRANSPORT TIME CALCULATION BASED ON U-SERIES ISOTOPES

The source to sink process of terrigenous detrital material from East Asia continent to East China Sea is a critical issue of land-ocean interaction and marine geology study in China. Previous studies have achieved a lot on either sediment source or sink, although the process from source to sink, especially its timescale, is rarely clarified. As a newly developed method, ²³⁴U/²³⁸U ratio has been successfully applied to quantitatively calculate sediment transport time in many riverine and marine sediments. This paper made a review on the theoretical basis and development of the new method, and proposed its application prospect in East Asia marginal seas. It is suggested that the application of this new approach is of great significance on east China continent "source to sink" study which is characterized by complicated "tectonic-climate-anthropologic activities".