Late Pleistocene-Holocene sedimentary evolution in the coastal zone of the Red River Delta

The Red River Delta is considered one of the largest megadelta systems in Asia. The formation of this delta has been controlled by the continent-ocean interaction and sea-level fluctuation during the Cenozoic. In this study, we present a new sequence stratigraphic framework of the Red River Delta based on borehole lithofacies analysis and high resolution seismic data. The Late Pleistocene–Holocene sediments in the coastal zone of the Red River Delta were subdivided into three systems tracts: (1) the lowstand systems tract (LST) is characterized by a Late Pleistocene alluvial silty sand facies complex (arLSTQ(1)(3b)); (2) the transgressive systems tract (TST) is illustrated by the coastal marsh facies complex and the lagoonal greenish-gray clay facies of Early-Middle Holocene (amt, mtTSTQ(2)(1−2)); and (3) the highstand systems tract (HST) is composed of the Middle-Late Holocene deltaic clayish silt facies complex (amhHSTQ(2)(2−3)). The boundaries between these three systems tracts are not isochronous, namely: (1) The LST-HST boundary has been associated with the Würm 2 Glaciation, which occurred at ~40-18 Ka.; (2) The TST-LST boundary is identified by a transgressive erosion surface, whose age ranges from ~12-5 Ka.; and (3) the HST-TST boundary is an unconformity between the submarine deltaic facies complex and the Middle Holocene marine flooding plain.