DISTRIBUTION OF PLANKTONIC FORAMINIFERA IN SURFACE SEDIMENTS OF THE EAST CHINA SEA AND THE HUANGHAI SEA

Distribution of 21 species of planktonic foraminifera in more than 200 surface sediment samples from the East China Sea and the Huanghai Sea was studied quantitatively. As a result, the proximity to the ocean (or the distance from the coast) and the water currents (Kuroshio with its branches and coastal currents) have been found to be the main factors controlling the distribution pattern of specimen abundance, test size and species assemblages. Three assemblages have been distinguished by a Q-mode factor analysis: the Kuroshio assemblage dominated by Neogloboquadrina dutertrei, Globigerinoides ruber, G. sacculifer and Pulleniatina obliquiloculata; the Coastal Current assemblage dominated by Globigerinita glutinata and Globigerina bulloides; and the transitional assemblage in between.