Sedimentological Characteristics of Sediments of the South China Sea, Area II: Sarawak, Sabah and Brunei Darussalam Waters

Abstract

Surficial investigation of bottom sediments was conducted within the waters off the coast of Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei Darussalam. Two sampling of bottom sediments were conducted, one before (September 1996) and one after (April 1997) the Northeast monsoon period, which normally lasts from November to February annually. During the pre-monsoon cruise, fifty-one samples were collected while 52 samples were collected during the post-monsoon exercise. The collected samples were analysed for their sedimentological characteristics of mean, sorting, skewness and kurtosis. Analyses revealed that the post-monsoon sediments are finer, better sorted in arrangement, more symmetrical and less peaked than the pre-monsoon sediments. Deeper water sediment shows the same characteristics as described above when compared to shallow water sediments. In general, the near-shore sediments are coarsest, more poorly sorted, more positively skewed and most peaked in characteristics when compared to the mid-shore and off-shore sediments.