中国陆架区属于堆积型浅海,其高速率沉积中的孢粉化石是地层划分,重建古气候古地理环境的重要指标。我国陆架海区孢粉学研究始于20世纪70年代,东部海区(渤海、黄海及东海陆架)第四纪孢粉研究的成果集中于20世纪80年代,而南海陆架海区与深海孢粉学研究自20个世纪90年代同步发展,已取得较显著成果。现代孢粉的来源及传播过程研究是正确解译地层孢粉的前提,我国陆架区主要通过表层沉积物孢粉组合变化探讨孢粉分布规律及传输路径,研究范围多集中在海区近岸或河口区,因此,覆盖更广陆架区的多角度(表层水体及空气孢粉)探讨孢粉物源及典型孢粉—藻类环境意义的工作亟待加强。同时,陆架区第四纪孢粉记录相对较少,多数研究集中于晚更新世或全新世阶段,且利用低分辨率的孢粉分析划分地层并定性恢复孢粉陆源区植被—气候及陆架海环境变化,深入认识我国陆架区的环境过程需要重视较长时间尺度或高分辨率的孢粉学研究。
Sporopollen assemblage is a critical index for stratigraphic devision,climatic and geographic reconstruction of shelf deposits.Palynological research started in 1970 s on Chinese continental shelves.Since then remarkable achievements have been obtained in the Quaternary palynological study on the Eastern China Sea shelves,including the Bohai Sea,Yellow Sea and East China Sea shelves,in particular in the period of 1980 s.Research of deep water palynology has been rapidly developed since1990 sin the areas of South China Sea shelf.Study of source and transportation process of modern pollen is a prerequisite for accurate and rationale interpretation of fossil pollen.Therefore,pollen analysis of the samples from the air,surface seawater and bottom sediment in a wide region is required,which will help understand the pollen provenance and the environmental significances of typical sporopollen and algae assemblages.So far a lot of studies have been devoted to the pollen assemblage in the surface sediments and their distribution and transportation patterns in Chinese continental shelf areas,especially in the coastal and estuarine areas.The study of Quaternary palynology is relatively weak in the continental shelf areas,and most of them are aiming at low resolution pollen-spore analysis and qualitatively recover of the ecosystem and climate variations in the pollen source areas and evironmental changes on the continental shelves during late Pleistocene or Holocene periods.In order to deeply understand the paleoenvironmental process in the Chinese continental shelf region,more high resolution palynological study over a longer time scale needs to be conducted in future.