Sea Level Change Controlled the Sedimentary Processes at the Makran Continental Margin Over the Past 13,000 yr.

Climate change, sea level fluctuations, and tectonic uplift play key roles in the evolution of sedimentary systems on continental margins. In the Arabian Sea, the Makran continental margin is suitable for studying these processes during the Holocene due to its high sedimentation rate and continuous sequence of Holocene sediments. Here, high‐resolution clay mineral and grain size analyses have been conducted to better understand the sedimentary process and controlling factors over the past 13,000 yr. The results show that the influence of Indus‐derived sediments on the Makran continent margin is negligible. Holocene relative sea level fluctuations can strongly control the shelf accommodation space due to the narrow shelf, which in turn affects the deposition process at the Makran continental margin. The sediment records at the central Makran continental margin are more suitable for studying ancient earthquakes or tsunamis. Plain Language Summary: Deciphering sediment records is challenging because linking the sedimentary process with related major influencing factors is not always straightforward. Although previous studies have shown that climate is an important influencing factor in the sedimentary history of the Makran continental margin, the roles of other influencing factors remain poorly understood. The findings of this study provide new insights into the sedimentary process on the Makran continental margin over the past 13,000 yr based on high‐resolution clay mineral and grain size analyses. Our clay mineralogy data provide further evidence that the Indus River is unimportant to the sedimentary process on the Makran continental margin. Combined with the results of previous studies, this work demonstrates that the relative sea level fluctuations since the Holocene have played an important role in the sedimentary process at the Makran continental margin. In the central continental margin, river sediments, wave‐erode sediments, and eolian dust are all important source materials, suitable for studying event deposition related to earthquakes and tsunami due to the limited role of rivers. Key Points: Climate change is not the only decisive factor controlling the sedimentary processIndus‐derived sediments are unimportant on the Makran continental marginRelatively low sea levels seem to have played a major role in the early Holocene [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]