40 Paleoclimatology/Paleoceanography (Posters)

Sunday, 1 November 2015
9:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Exhibit Hall

BULK SEDIMENT MAGNETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY OF HOLOCENE SEDIMENT IN THE MALACCA STRAIT, OFF NORTHWESTERN PENINSULAR MALAYSIA

Paper number: 40-26
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 9:00 AM – 5:30 PM

Authors

Abstract

The sea bed of the Malacca Strait off the coast of Kedah, northwestern peninsular Malaysia is characterized by several meters of Holocene mud that potentially preserve a record of Holocene paleoenvironmental/paleoclimatic change. In 2001, a piston core was taken at 15.80 m water depth between Langkawi Island and the Malaysian mainland. The core was comprised almost entirely of sandy mud with comminuted bivalve shell fragments throughout. The core was cut into contiguous samples (averaging 2-3 cm in thickness) and analyzed for bulk sediment magnetic susceptibility (BMS) by means of Kappabridge MFK-A from Advanced Geoscience Instruments Company.

BMS data averaged 9.26E-05 si, and ranged between 4.88E-05 and 1.21E-04 si. The BMS profile reveals three intervals in the core, from 355 cm to 83 cm (Unit 1), a transition zone from 80 cm to 57 cm (Unit 2), and from 55 cm to 0 cm (Unit 3). A decrease in BMS values up-core is interpreted to be due to reduced fine suspended sediment input through time from adjacent rivers (Perlis and Kedah) of mainland Malaysia. Reduced fluvial sediment load results results from decreased monsoonal intensity, decreased rainfall, and decreased continental run-off through time.