J. Geogr. Sci. 2013, 23(5): 883-914 DOI: 10.1007/s11442-013-1051-5 © 2013 Science Press Springer-Verlag Received: 2012-07-28 Accepted: 2012-08-20 Foundation: National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program), No.2013CB956500; National Natural Science Foundation of China, Nos.40776023 & 40872107; Comprehensive Investigation and Assessment in Jiangsu Offshore Area, Nos.JS-908-01-05 & JS-908-01-101; Special Fund for Marine Scientific Research in the Pub- lic Interest, No.201005006; Special Fund for Land and Resources Research in the Public Interest, No.201011019; China State-Sponsored Postgraduate Study Aboard Program, No.2011619035 Author: Xia Fei, Ph.D. Candidate, specialized in coastal ocean geomorphology and sedimentology. E-mail: njuxiafei1985@yahoo.com * Corresponding author: Zhang Yongzhan, Ph.D. and Associate Professor, specialized in coastal ocean geomorphology and sedimentology. E-mail: zhangyzh@nju.edu.cn www.geogsci.com springerlink.com/content/1009-637X Evolution of sedimentary environments of the middle Jiangsu coast, South Yellow Sea since late MIS 3 XIA Fei 1,2,3 , * ZHANG Yongzhan 1,2 , WANG Qiang 4 , YIN Yong 1,2 , Karl W. WEGMANN 3 , J. Paul LIU 3 1. Department of Coastal Ocean Science, School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing Uni- versity, Nanjing 210093, China; 2. The Key Laboratory of Coastal and Island Development, Ministry of Education, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China; 3. Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA; 4. Tianjin Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources, China Geological Survey Bureau, Tianjin 300170, China Abstract: An evolutionary model of sedimentary environments since late Marine Isotope Stage 3 (late MIS 3, i.e., ca. 39 cal ka BP) along the middle Jiangsu coast is presented based upon a reinterpretation of core 07SR01, new correlations between adjacent published cores, and shallow seismic profiles recovered in the Xiyang tidal channel and adjacent northern sea areas. Geomorphology, sedimentology, radiocarbon dating and seismic and sequence strati- graphy are combined to confirm that environmental changes since late MIS 3 in the study area were controlled primarily by sea-level fluctuations, sediment discharge of paleo-rivers into the South Yellow Sea (SYS), and minor tectonic subsidence, all of which impacted the progression of regional geomorphic and sedimentary environments (i.e., coastal barrier island, freshwater lacustrine swamp, river floodplain, coastal marsh, tidal sand ridge, and tidal channel). This resulted in the formation of a fifth-order sequence stratigraphy, comprised of the parasequence of the late stage of the last interstadial (Para-Sq2), including the highstand and forced regressive wedge system tracts (HST and FRWST), and the parasequence of the postglacial period (Para-Sq1), including the transgressive and highstand system tracts (TST and HST). The tidal sand ridges likely began to develop during the postglacial transgression as sea-level rise covered the middle Jiangsu coast at ca. 9.0 cal ka BP. These initially sub- merged tidal sand ridges were constantly migrating until the southward migration of the Yel- low River mouth to the northern Jiangsu coast during AD 1128 to 1855. The paleo-Xiyang tidal channel that was determined by the paleo-tidal current field and significantly different