DISCOVERY OF DIATOM ASSEMBLAGES FROM DEEP-SEA BASIN IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA AND THEIR GEOLOGICAL IMPLICATION

Of the diatoms from sediments of the South China Sea, mainly composed of planktonic species of tropical and subtropical zones, 36 genera and 86 species are identified. Based on the changes in diatom numbers and the appearance of diatom assemblages, six diatom zones are distinguished in Core V₁ reflecting six phases of paleoclimatc, paleo-watertemperature and paleogeography. According to the Quaternary climatic division, these zones represent hot weather and warm weather as a whole, and they are separately equal to postglacial period, the Holocene; Wurm glacial period; Riss-Wurm interglacial period; and Riss glacial period, the Late Pleistocene.