Sediments of core YSJD-86GC(referred to as86GC)collected from the southern South China Sea were selected for environmental magnetic studies.Combined with the published chronological framework,sediment magnetic properties were revealed for the study area since the MIS3 stage.The rock magnetic results indicate that low-coercivity magnetite is the main magnetic mineral within the sediments.Also,a certain amounts of hematite are present.The King plot and Day plot,which reflect the magnetic particle size,show that fine-grained pseudo-single-domain phase magnetic particles dominate the magnetic minerals in the sediments.Comparison of magnetic parameters and geochemical indicators show that magnetic properties of core 86GC sediments reflect a terrigenous input.Simultaneously,magnetic characteristics of the studied sediment are influenced by the quantity of terrigenous sediment input,oxidation-reduction conditions of the provenance area,and the transportation environment and distance.Sea level fluctuation caused by global climate change was the main factor for variation in concentration of magnetic minerals and magnetic particle size of thestudied core sediments.Thus,variation of sediment magnetic properties in the study area can be used as an indirect indicator of sea level fluctuation. Sediments of core YSJD-86GC (referred to as86GC) collected from the southern South China Sea were selected for environmental magnetic studies. Combined with the published chronological framework, sediment magnetic properties were revealed for the study area since the MIS3 stage. Rock magnetic results indicate that low-coercivity magnetite is the main magnetic mineral within the sediments. Also, a certain amount of hematite are present. The King plot and Day plot, which reflect the magnetic particle size, show that fine-grained pseudo-single-domain phase magnetic particles dominate the magnetic minerals in the sediments. Comparison of magnetic parameters and geochemical indicators show that magnetic properties of core 86GC sediments reflect a terrigenous input. Simultaneously, magnetic characteristics of the studied sediment are influenced by the quantity of terrigenous sediment input, oxidation- reduction conditions of the provenance area, and the transportation environment and distance. Sea level fluctuation caused by global climate change was the main factor for variation in concentration of magnetic minerals and magnetic particle size of the blocked core sediments. Thus, variation of sediment magnetic properties in the study area can be used as an indirect indicator of sea level fluctuation.