南海深海盆的沉积充填

 依据大洋钻探井及地震剖面资料，定量确定南海同扩张期和后扩张期深海盆沉积充填差异及沉积物来源变化。研究显示，南海深海盆自渐新世（32 Ma）开始形成，随着南海二次扩张海盆范围逐渐扩大，海盆内主要充填火山碎屑角砾岩及火山灰，碳酸盐岩、超微化石软泥，泥质粘土、粉砂质粘土、泥岩及粉细砂岩。深海盆充填主要沉积物为晚中新世（11.6Ma）以来的陆源碎屑沉积，丰富陆源碎屑的供给与南海闭合过程中同期区域构造事件（如青藏高原快速隆升、菲律宾板块俯冲）密切相关，也与晚中新世以来东亚季风增强以及源区强烈的风化剥蚀有关。     

用湿位涡定义的南海西南季风指数及其与我国区域降水的关系研究

使用美国NCEP／NCAR1958－1997年逐日资料,对南海季风爆发前后的气象要素场作了分析。结果表明：南海季风爆发时,南海南、北部要素场变化有差异,北部西南季风爆发特征更为显著。针对南海西南季风爆发特征,提出了用湿位势涡度定义季风指数,它能很好地反映夏季风爆发的特征。其中,用湿位热涡度定义的季风指数对长江中下及华北华南地区的旱涝具有一定的预示性。相关分析表明：前一年冬季的季风指数和秋季的季风指数分别与华北次年夏季降水、华南次年春季降水有显著的相关,而当年夏季的季风指数与长江中下游当年秋季降水呈显著正相关。     

Evolution of the East Asian monsoon and its response to uplift of the Tibetan Plateau since 1.8 Ma recorded by major elements in sediments of the South China Sea

Evolution of the East Asian monsoon and its response to uplift of the Tibetan Plateau has been investigated in the study of global change. Core sediment samples drilled in the South China Sea during ODP Leg184 are the best materials for studying long-term variability of the East Asian monsoon. R-mode factor analysis of major elements in the fine grain-sized carbonate-free sediments (<4 μm) of the upper 185 mcd splice of ODP Site 1146 drilled during Leg184 in the South China Sea shows that Ti, TFe2O3, MgO, K2O, P, CaO, and Al2O3 are representative of a terrestrial factor. The variation in the terrestrial factor score is subject to chemical erosion in the source region and thus indicates the evolution of the East Asian summer monsoon. The terrestrial factor score has three stepwise decreases at ~1.3 Ma, ~0.9 Ma, and ~0.6 Ma, indicating the phased weakening of the East Asian summer monsoon is related to wholly stepwise, quick uplifts of the Tibetan Plateau since 1.8 Ma. The periodic fluctuation of the terrestrial factor score since ~0.6 Ma indicates that the glacial-interglacial cycles have been the main force driving the evolution of the East Asian monsoon. As in the case of Chinese loess, the long-term evolution of the East Asian monsoon recorded in sediments of the South China Sea reflects a coupled effect of the glacial-interglacial cycle and uplift of the Tibetan Plateau.     

2003年东亚夏季风活动的特点

利用2003年国家气象中心提供的再分析资料以及台站降水资料，诊断分析了2003我国东部地区汛期降水和东亚夏季风的活动特点，并对二者之间的联系进行讨论。结果表明：(1)2003年南海夏季风于5月第5候在南海南部建立。6月第1候全面爆发，比常年偏晚，南海夏季风强度也比常年偏弱；(2)该年夏季，副热带高压的一个显著特点是强度强、位置偏西，其中从6月下旬至7月中旬，副热带高压的位置稳定少变，其北脊线位25oN附近，且副高位置偏西，这导致了长江以南的犬部分地区高温少雨。这个阶段副热带高压西侧的南风气流将南海地区的水汽源源不断地输送到淮河流域，是淮河流域强降水过程水汽主要来源。     

Pleistocene precession forcing of the upper ocean structure variations of the southern South China Sea

The precession plays a dominant role in driving the tropical monsoon variations. Our high resolution, millennial scale marine isotope records from ODP Site 1143 in the southern South China Sea (SCS) present the detailed history of the upper ocean structure variations over the past 1.56 Ma on glacial/interglacial timescale. The cross spectral analyses between the Earth's orbital variations and the isotopic differences reveal a high coherency between the East-Asian-monsoon-related thermocline and nutricline variations of the SCS and the precession. The variations of monsoon-related isotopic difference between species also demonstrate periodicities of 11-, 12- and 14- thousand years near semi-precession which originates in the tropics, highlighting the importance of the precession in driving the east Asian monsoon changes.     

临夏盆地1.95MaBP的气候转型事件与青藏高原隆升作用于大气的临界高度

湖相地层孢粉分析的结果表明，临夏盆地在1．95MaB．P．前后发生过一次重要的气候转型事件。在此之前，南海热带季风信号在地层记录中存在较强的表现，在此之后热带季风信号减弱而高纬冰盖信号加强。CaCO3指标的周期分析同样表明，在1．95MaBP前后确实出现了气候的主导周期转型，在此之前，气候变化周期以类岁差的25kyr周期为主，而在此之后，以类倾角的38kyr周期为主。发生在临夏盆地1．95MaBP的这次气候转型事件表明青藏高原地面在当时隆升到一个可以改变周围地区大气环流的临界高度，如果以青藏高原在2．6MaB．P．- 0．6MaB．P．的平均抬升速率推算，这一临界高度可能在2500m左右。     

Benthic foraminiferal fauna turnover at 2.1 Ma in the northern South China Sea

Quantitative analysis of benthic foraminifera from ODP Site 1146 in the northern South China Sea (SCS) shows that abundance of Bulimina alazanensis, sometimes up to about 90%, decreased gradually since 3.2 Ma, especially at 2.1 Ma. Abundance of other benthic foraminiferal species, Globobulimina sub-globosa and Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi, increased after 2.1 Ma. Comparison with changes in oxygen and carbon isotopes of planktonic and benthic foraminifera shows that high abundance values of B. alazanensis corresponded with lower values of oxygen isotope, but for carbon isotope, high values of the species were consistent with heavier carbon isotope of benthic foraminifera and lighter carbon isotope of planktonic foraminifera, respectively, and vice versa. Considering factors such as uplift of Bashi Strait, expansion of the North Hemisphere Glaciation, strengthening of East Asian winter mon-soon and variations in oxygen and carbon isotope of foraminifera, changes of B. alazanensis in ODP Site 1146 suggest that the source of deep water masses of the northern South China Sea changed from the warm Pacific deep water with high oxygen content to Pacific Intermediate water with low oxygen content at 2.1 Ma. In addition, the strengthened East Asian winter monsoon resulted in increased pri-mary productivity, high nutrient and suboxic bottom water. Variations in species of B. alazanensis seemed to be unable to tolerate environmental stress induced by deep water masses and productivity changes.     

Deep-water Oligocene pollen record from South China Sea

Leg 184 of ODP recovered a record of deepwater sediments spanning the past 32.8 Ma from the South China Sea (SCS). The sediments of the Ofigocene (32.8-23.8 Ma) at Site 1148 contain relatively abundant fossil pollen. The pollen analysis at Site 1148 has established the first pollen assemblage sequence of deep-water Oligocene in the China Sea. The pollen assemblages of the Ofigocene are dominated by montane conifer tree pollen. The abundances of broad-leaved tree pollen are lower in the assemblages.Both of the montane conifer and broad-leaved tree pollen groups include mainly tropical-subtropical components. The pollen of cold and drought-enduring plants is present in lower content. The distinct change in pollen assemblage sequence of deep-water Oligocene of the SCS occurred at 32.0 Ma, indicative of an important shift of the Oligocene climate in the SCS region. The characteristics of the pollen flora of the deep-water Oligocene indicate the tropical montane ralnforest and lowland ralnforest developed on the areas around the SCS before 32.0 Ma, reflecting the warm and wet climatic condition. In the pollen flora of the Oligocene after 32.0 Ma, the temperate montane conifer and cool and drought-en- during deciduous tree taxa remarkably increased, indicating that the climate in the SCS region became comparatively cool and dry.     

Deep sea pollen record during 12－1.6 Ma from the southern South China Sea and its response to envi-ronmental change

Based on deep-sea pollen results (512-76 m) from ODP Site 1143 in the southern South China Sea (SCS),the climate and vegetation evolution sequence on the surrounding islands and the exposed continental shelf are discussed. The pollen records show that the pollen influx was quite low before 8.15 Ma and increased dramatically afterwards. The influx changes can be ascribed,on one side,to tectonics deformations around the southern SCS resulting in rapid uplift of islands and subsequent increase of the sediment rates and pollen influx and on the other side to climate cooling and monsoon enhancement. Around 2.63 Ma was another obvious boundary,the increasing of pollen and spores influx since this time was mainly related to global climate cooling. Spectrum analysis of pollen influx values shows that 2 Ma,0.67 Ma,and 0.19-0.17 Ma cycles existed during 12-3.0 Ma,while 0.1 Ma and 46.9 ka cycles existed during 3.0-2.0 Ma.     

Dynamic control on grain-size distribution of terrigenous sediments in the western South China Sea: Implication for East Asian monsoon evolution

High-resolution oxygen isotope stratigraphy of Core MD05-2901, which is located off eastern Vietnam in the western South China Sea （SCS）, was established and indicated that the core spans a time period of the past 450 ka. Based on the bulk density, fractional porosity and lithogenic content of the sediments, terrigenous mass accumulation rate （TMAR） was obtained, which is 4.9-6.0 g cm^-2 ka^-1 on average during interglacial stages, higher than that during glacial stages, i.e. 1.9-5.0 g cm^-2 ka^-1, which is different from northern and southern SCS which show higher TMAR in glacial stages. By principle component analysis of grain size distribution of all the samples, two main control factors （F1 and F2） were obtained, which are responsible for about 80% variance of granularity. The contents of grain size population 1.26-2.66 μm% and 10.8-14.3 μm% which are sensible to F1 show high-frequency fluctuation, and correlate well with the summer insolation at 15^o N. They exhibit a distinct cyclicity with frequencies near 23 ka and 13 ka, in contrast to a strong frequency peak near 100 ka obtained in proxies 4.24-7.42 μm% and 30.1-43.7 μm% controlled mainly by F2. The sedimentary character of this part of the SCS was controlled by variations of input flux from two main source areas, namely the southwest and north SCS, which were transported by different circulations of surface current forced by East Asian summer monsoon and winter monsoon respectively. We believe that the East Asian summer monsoon has fluctuated with high frequency and been forced by changes in solar insolation in low latitude associated with precession and half precession, while ice-volume forcing is probably a primary factor in determining the strength and timing of the East Asian winter monsoon but with less important insolation forcing.     

临夏盆地晚中新世沉积物中赤铁矿和针铁矿的含量特征及其意义

利用对铁氧化物矿物灵敏的漫反射光谱法,对临夏盆地的黑林顶剖面(古地磁年代为11.8～5.0Ma)赤铁矿和针铁矿含量进行测定.结果表明:赤铁矿含量在8.6 Ma以前相对较高,在8.6 Ma以后骤然降低并稳定在一低值范围;针铁矿则没有明显的变化趋势,赤铁矿/针铁矿的变化则与赤铁矿的变化趋势一致;赤铁矿、针铁矿含量及其比值在该剖面的变化特征主要反映了8.6 Ma以来亚洲内陆干旱化的加剧,可能与青藏高原在该时期的剧烈隆升密切相关.     

南海玄武岩：扩张洋脊与海山

 南海存在两种火山岩：洋中脊玄武岩（MORB）和洋岛玄武岩（OIB）。国际大洋发现计划（IODP）第349、367、368、368X航次在南海海盆的成功钻取,获得了南海初始扩张（~34 Ma）和停止扩张（~15-16 Ma）前的洋壳样品。南海东部、西南次海盆及北缘洋-陆过渡带代表海盆发展的不同阶段,具有不同的地幔潜能温度、物质组成和洋脊扩张速度,因此产生的洋中脊玄武岩成分差异显著。南海地区在扩张晚期及停止扩张之后存在大规模地幔上涌,与其周缘地区的持续俯冲有关,产出的海山OIB不同于地幔柱活动产生的火山链。南海虽小,但蕴含的信息异常丰富,是窥探地球深部难得的天然窗口。     

Opening and evolution of the South China Sea constrained by studies on volcanic rocks: Preliminary results and a research design

The South China Sea (SCS) is characterized by abundant seamounts, which provide important information about the evolution of the SCS and related deep processes. Cenozoic volcanism in the SCS and its surroundings comprises three stages relative to the spreading of the SCS:prespreading (>32 Ma), syn-spreading (32-16 Ma), and post-spreading (<16 Ma). The pre-spreading magmatism predominantly occurs on the northern margin of the SCS and in South China coastal areas and shows a bi-modal affinity. The syn-spreading magmatic activity was very limited on the periphery of the SCS, but may be concentrated in the SCS. However, seafloor samples of this stage are not available yet because of overlying thick sedimentary deposits. Post-spreading magmatism is widespread in the central and southwest sub-basins of the SCS, Hainan Island, Leizhou Peninsula, Thailand, and Vietnam. These are mainly alkali basalts with subordinate tholeiites, and display OIB-type geochemical characteristics. The Dupal isotope anomaly and presence of high-magnesian olivine phenocrysts suggests their possible derivation from the Hainan mantle plume. The temporal and spatial distribution of Cenozoic volcanism in the SCS and its surroundings may be accounted for either by plate stress re-organization before and after SCS spreading, or by ridge suction of plume flow during opening of the SCS. If the latter is the case, the volcanic rocks within the SCS basin may not be typical mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB). It remains puz-zling, however, that the transition between the South China continental margin and the SCS basin does not have features typical of a volcanic rifted margin. Clearly, the relationship between mantle plume and SCS opening needs further evaluation. A better un-derstanding of the link between deep processes and opening of the SCS not only requires enhanced studies on igneous petrogene-sis, but also is heavily dependent on systematic sampling of seafloor rocks.     

Pollen evidence from Baode of the northern Loess Plateau of China and strong East Asian summer monsoons during the Early Pliocene

The red clay eolian sequence on the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) is an important archive for paleoclimate change from the late Miocene to Pliocene,and can provide significant information for the controversial problems of East Asian monsoon evolution and its forcing mechanism.In this study,we present a pollen record from Baode,northern CLP.The record shows four stages of paleoecological evolution.From 5.6-4.4 Ma,a forest steppe ecosystem developed under an extremely warm period with high seasonal precipitation.Since 4.4 Ma,a drier episode occurred,which prompted parkland landscapes to develop.During 3.5-3.05 Ma,the environment changed to a rather open steppe ecosystem with a much cooler and drier climate.After 3.05 Ma,the vegetation evolved to forest steppe.Using the percentages of arboreal plants to mirror precipitation,and comparing with other published pollen data from the CLP,we find the existence of S-N directionality of the precipitation change and high percentage of arboreal plants in the entire CLP during the Early Pliocene,which suggest the CLP was characterized by a strong East Asian summer monsoon.The strong summer monsoon corresponds well to the low global ice volume,which may illuminate global climate mechanism for the summer monsoon evolution in the early Pliocene.     

Modeling the climate effects of different subregional uplifts within the Himalaya-Tibetan Plateau on Asian summer monsoon evolution

Considering the different uplifting time of different subregions of the Himalaya-Tibetan Plateau(TP),a series of numerical simulations have been conducted with the Community Atmosphere Model(CAM4) developed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research to explore the effects of the phased tectonic uplift of the Himalaya-TP on the evolution of Asian summer monsoons.The results show that the uplifts of the Himalaya and northern TP significantly affect the evolutions of South Asian summer monsoon and northern East Asian summer monsoon respectively.That is,the tectonic uplift of the Himalaya intensifies the South Asian summer monsoon circulation and increases the precipitation in South Asia,whereas the uplift of the northern TP intensifies the northern East Asian summer monsoon circulation and increases the precipitation in northern East Asia.Compared with previous simulations,current comparative analyses of modeling results for different subregional uplifts within the Himalaya-TP help deepen our understanding of the evolutionary history of Asian monsoons.     

Seasonal features of the Sverdrup circulation in the South China Sea

Based on the Sverdrup relation, using climatological wind stress data, the basin scale Sverdrup transport in the South China Sea(SCS) is calculated and the basic seasonal features of the Sverdrup circulation are obtained. A comparison of these calculated features with observations proves that the wind-driven circulation in the SCS is very important for the formation of the SCS upper oceanic circulation in winter, summer and fall. It is shown that the non-uniform sea surface wind is one of the causes to form multi circulation centers in the basin of the SCS. The westward current at 18°N is caused by the local wind, which is stronger in fall and winter. The seasonal variation of circulation in the southern SCS is much more remarkable than that in the north. The wind in spring is helpful to the seasonal reversal of the circulation in the central SCS. The northward transport of the cyclonic circulation reaches the maximum in fall.     

Diatoms from the southwestern continental slope, South China Sea, and their paleoenvironmental significance since the last glacial times

A quantitative study was undertaken on diatoms from cores (SA08-34) obtained from the southwestern continental slope of the South China Sea (SCS). A total of 165 diatom species belonging to 45 genera were identified. We constructed a stratigraphic subdivision and correlation according to the characteristics of diatom assemblages together with ¹⁴C dating and carbonate analysis. We also discuss the sedimentary environment in the sea area since the last glacial times. The research shows that the diatom assemblages coincide with interglacial and glacial times, and changes in diatom abundance reflect the instability of the climate in the southern part of the SCS, such that short-term, temperature descending events correlate with the interglacial interval. The abundance of diatoms is relevant to interglacial and glacial times, since high abundance values were associated with an interglacial interval, and low abundance values with the last glacial maximum. We assume that strong upwelling developed in the interglacial interval, the development of which was influenced by variations of monsoons in the East Asian region.     

Vegetation evolution and its response to climatic change during 3.15–0.67 Ma in deep-sea pollen record from northern South China Sea

In order to study vegetation evolution and environmental change during 3.15-0.67 Ma,a total of 608 pollen samples with an average time resolution of 4 ka has been analyzed from ODP Site 1145(water depth 3175 m),northern South China Sea.The deep-sea sediments(213.62-91.9 m) cover from 3.15 to 0.67 Ma based on micropaleonotological stratigraphy.The characteristic features of the pollen diagram include that,pollen influx rises twice obviously around 2.58 Ma and during 2.0-1.8 Ma,in response to global climatic cooling and winter monsoon enhancement.Before 2.58 Ma,tropical and subtropical vegetation,mainly evergreen Quercus(E) and Altingia,predominated around northern SCS with much more tropical montane conifers and ferns relatively.From 2.58 Ma,temperate vegetation increased obviously,implying climatic cooling and winter monsoon enhancement.Spectral analysis shows that percentage variation in tropical and subtropical taxa has a strong 20 ka procession cycle probably due to the summer monsoon;while pollen influx has 100,41 and 19 ka cycles,indicating the sea level and winter monsoon change response to the ice-sheet variations.     

Cenozoic stratigraphy of Taiwan: Window into rifting, stratigraphy and paleoceanography of South China Sea

Shallow marine sequences of the northern South China Sea (SCS) are uplifted and exposed by plate convergence in the Taiwan mountain belt. These deposits provide detailed geological information about the rifting event, stratigraphy, sedimentology, paleoclimate and paleoceanography of the shallow SCS to compare with what are recorded in the ODP 1148 deep-sea core. Seismic surveys and marine micropalentological studies show that Eocene sequences in the offshore Taiwan Strait and onland Taiwan mountain belt are all deposited in rifting basins and are covered unconformably by the Late Oligocene-Neogene post-rifting strata. Between syn-rifting and post-rifting sequences, there is a regional break-up unconformity throughout the island. Early Oligocene and Late Eocene strata are missing along the break-up unconformity equivalent to the T7 unconformity in the Pearl River Mouth Basin off south China. This may suggest that the SCS oceanic crust could have initiated between 33 and 39 Ma. Neither obvious stratigraphic gap nor slumping features are found in the Oligocene-Miocene transition interval of Taiwan. This observation highly contrasts with what has been documented from the ODP 1148 deep-sea core. This suggests that the stratigraphic gap and slumping features could only be recorded in the SCS deep sea region, but not in the shallow shelf near Taiwan. Compared to the Middle Miocene paleoceanographic re-organization events in the SCS deep sea, the geological history of the Taiwan shallow sequence shows changes of in sedimentation and faunal composition. Due to the Antarctic glacial expansion at~14 Ma, Middle to late Miocene strata of the Western Foothills show progressive regression sedimentations associated with a decrease of benthic foraminif-eral abundance and a sharp faunal turnover event. Many Early-Middle Miocene endemic benthic foraminifers were extinct in 14-13 Ma and new benthic foraminifers of the Kuroshio Current fauna appeared from 10.2 Ma, comparable with new occurrence of Modern benthic foraminifers at 9 Ma in the Java Sea area. This reveals that the Western Boundary Kuroshio Current in the North Pacific could initiate from 10-9 Ma due to closures of the Indo-Pacific seaways by convergent tectonics between the Australian Continent and the Indonesian Arc in 12-8 Ma. Subduction of the SCS oceanic lithosphere since the Middle Miocene resulted in formation of the Hengchun Ridge accretionary prism and the North Luzon Arc. Occurrence of these two bathymetric highs ( 2400 m) since the Middle Miocene and closures of the inter-arc passages in the North Luzon arc in the last 3.5 Ma would control the water exchanges between the West Pacific and the deep SCS. Accordingly, the tectonic evolution in the Central Range-Hengchun Peninsula accretionary prism and the arc-forearc Coastal Range not only control directly the route for water exchanges between the West Pacific and the SCS, but also indirectly shows a great influence on the geochemistry of deep SCS waters. The latter is best shown by much negative carbon isotope values of benthic foraminifers in the ODP 1148 deep-sea core than the West Pacific records in the last 14 Ma.     

Deep-sea pollen research in China

This paper briefly presents the progress of deep-sea pollen research in China since the beginning of ninetieths of the last Century. All the deep-sea pollen contri-butions mainly come from the South China Sea (SCS) and the East China Sea (ECS). The German-Chinese joint cruise (Sonne 95) and ODP 184 cruise initiated by Chinese scientists in the SCS provided excellent material for the deep-sea pollen research. So far a number of pollen results of 20-30 ka and million years from the SCS have been published. A couple of deep-sea pollen records from Okinawa Through of the ECS also came out. The high resolution pollen records obtained from the continuous deposits with high sedimentation rates and reliable age control of the deep-sea sediments provided a high time resolution history (hundred to millennial scales) of vegetation, environment and monsoon evolution of the pollen source areas (southern China and Japan). Spectral analysis of deep-sea pollen records from the SCS discovered orbital (100, 41, 23, 10 ka) and suborbital cyclicities(Heinrich and Dansgaard/Oscheger-O/D events) in the vegetation changes. Moreover, cross spectral analysis showed that the trend of vegetation changes in northern SCS was regulated mainly by changes of the ice volume in the Northern Hemisphere. The pollen record of the last 20 ka from the Okinawa Through of the ECS indicates that the marine environmental change lagged that on the terrestrail by about 1000 year. The asynchronous environmental changes between land and sea were probably caused by the time difference in thermohaline circulation. This study underscored the role of the deep-sea plant fossils as a bridge across the land and sea.