QUANTITATIVE-ANALYSIS OF PLANKTONIC-FORAMINIFERA IN SURFACE SEDIMENTSFROM THE SOUTH CHINA SEA

Q-mode factor analysis was applied to 99 surface samples from the Sout h China Sea to define four planktonic foraminiferal assemblages: tropi cal-subtropical assemblage, high-salinity assemblage, transitional ass emblage and dissolution resistant assemblage. The tropical-subtropical assemblage is a dominant assemblage. The variation of the planktonic foraminifera of this assemblage reflects the changes of tropical surfa ce water from the west Pacific to South China Sea. These four assembla ges reveal that different planktonic foraminiferal assemblages are con trolled by different factors in the South China Sea, such as tropical- subtropical assemblage controlled by sea surface temperature (SST), hi gh-salinity assemblage mainly by salinity besides SST, transitional as semblage by SST and dissolution resistant assemblage by water depth.