The application of geostatistics in grain size trend analysis： A case study of eastern Beibu Gulf  

作　　者：MA Fei WANG Yaping LI Yan YE Changjiang XU Zhiwei ZHANG Fan 

机构地区：[1]School of Geographic and Oceanographic Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China [2]Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Coast and Island Development, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093 China [3]Joint Key Laboratory of Coastal Study （XMU ＆ FJIO）, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, Fujian, China

出　　处：《Journal of Geographical Sciences》2010年第1期77-90,共14页地理学报（英文版）

基　　金：Chinese Offshore Investigation and Assessment Project, No.908-01-ST09; State Student Innovation Training Project, No.SIT-05; Program for New Century Excellent Talents, No.NCET-06-0446; National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.J0630535 Acknowledgement The research vessel Experiment 2 （South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences） performed the field survey and Prof. Lizhe Cai and his colleagues help to collect the sediment samples. Prof. Shu Gao and Asso. Prof. Yongzhan Zhang have provided a lot of support and valuable suggestions for this study. Miss Xiaoqin Du helped with sediment transportation and Mr. Fengyang Min assisted in the operation of related software. The comments from Dr. M. Xia （Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, NOAA, USA） have improved a lot in the presentation of the paper.

摘　　要：There are 71 surface sediment samples collected from the eastern Beibu Gulf. The moment parameters （i.e. mean size, sorting and skewness） were obtained after applying grain size analysis. The geostatistical analysis was then applied to study the spatial autocorrelation for these parameters; while range, a parameter in the semivariogram that meters the scale of spatial autocorrelation, was estimated. The results indicated that the range for sorting coefficient was physically meaningful. The trend vectors calculated from grain size trend analysis model were consistent with the annual ocean circulation patterns and sediment transport rates according to previous studies. Therefore the range derived from the semivariogram of mean size can be used as the characteristic distance in the grain size trend analysis, which may remove the bias caused by the traditional way of basing on experiences or testing methods to get the characteristic distance. Hence the results from geostatistical analysis can also offer useful information for the determination of sediment sampling density in the future field work.There are 71 surface sediment samples collected from the eastern Beibu Gulf. The moment parameters （i.e. mean size, sorting and skewness） were obtained after applying grain size analysis. The geostatistical analysis was then applied to study the spatial autocorrelation for these parameters; while range, a parameter in the semivariogram that meters the scale of spatial autocorrelation, was estimated. The results indicated that the range for sorting coefficient was physically meaningful. The trend vectors calculated from grain size trend analysis model were consistent with the annual ocean circulation patterns and sediment transport rates according to previous studies. Therefore the range derived from the semivariogram of mean size can be used as the characteristic distance in the grain size trend analysis, which may remove the bias caused by the traditional way of basing on experiences or testing methods to get the characteristic distance. Hence the results from geostatistical analysis can also offer useful information for the determination of sediment sampling density in the future field work.

关 键 词：geostatistical method SEMIVARIOGRAM grain size trend analysis sediment transport Beibu Gulf 

分 类 号：P736.21[天文地球—海洋地质] P731.23[天文地球—海洋科学]