Application of Sediment Physical Properties to Paleoclimatic Interpretation: Preliminary Results in the Ulleung Basin, the East Sea

Sediment physical properties (compressional wave velocity, grain density, dry bulk density, and wet bulk density) are correlated to the paleoenvironmental parameters (coarse fraction, oxygen isotope, and planktonic foraminifera fragmentation) to reveal the possible interrelationship in the latest Quaternary sediments of the Ulleung Basin, the East Sea of Korea. Laboratory determinations of physical properties and paleoenvironmental parameters have been conducted on four piston core sediments. There are slight differences in the physical properties between glacial and interglacial period sediment sections. This is due to the large fraction of coarse grains of volcanic and terrigenous sediments relative to carbonate sediments. However, dry bulk density as an indicator of carbonate abundance in pelagic environment shows higher values at the lower part of cores, reflecting deeper CCD in the glacial period. Changes in velocity also relatively parallel to those in sediment coarse fraction, number of planktonic foraminifera, and wet bulk density. Therefore, we suggest that high-resolution physical properties may be used as a valuable tool for paleoenvironmental interpretation in the Ulleung Basin.