Evolution of the South China Sea and monsoon history revealed in deep-sea records

As the third summary report of ODP Leg 184 to the South China Sea (SCS), this paper discusses the evolution of the East Asian monsoon and the SCS basin. A multi-proxy approach, involving geochemistry, micropale-ontology, pollen and other analyses, was adopted for reconstructing the evolutionary history of the East Asian monsoon, which was characterized by a series of paleo-climate events especially at 8, 3.2, 2.2 and 0.4 Ma. The new record indicates similar stages in the development of the East and South Asian monsoons, with an enhanced winter monsoon over East Asia being the major difference. The rich spectrums of monsoon variability from the southern SCS also reveal other characteristic features of the low latitude ocean. Evidence for the evolution of the SCS includes the hemipelagic Oligocene sediments, implying the existence of deep water environments during the early seafloor spreading stage of the SCS basin. The four major unconformities and some remarkabl ediagenetic features in upper Oligocene deposits indicate the strongest tectonic events in the region. From a careful comparison of lithologies and sedimentation rates, we conclude that the prominent differences in sedimentary environments between the southern and northern SCS were established only by ～3 Ma.     

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 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.     

A 200-ka carbon isotope record from the South China Sea

Stable isotope of autogenous oceanic carbonate (e.g., calcite of foraminiferal shells) has become a basic tracer in paleoceanography. Oxygen isotope composi-tion (δ 18O) is generally controlled by factors, such as ice volume and water temperature, and is…     

南海表面海温异常对南海季风影响的数值模拟

采用P-σ混合坐标系区域气候模式模拟了4－7月南海季风的爆发、演变过程，并进行了3组敏感性数值试验，研究南海表面海温异常对南海季风的影响，得到以下结论：（1）南海4月份海温异常对南海季风的爆发日期影响不大，但对季风爆发后的强度有所影响，异常增温造成南海季风增强，异常降温则南海季风减弱。（2）南海季风爆发和强度的变化与南海本身的海温变化情况有密切的关系，尤其是5月份南海海温异常。5月份南海异常增温可以使南海季风提前爆发，季风增强，南海海温异常降低时，南海季风爆发的时间推迟，季风减弱。（3）南海海温持续异常可以影响南海及中国大陆的高低空环流变化，海温持续异常增温可以使南海季风提前爆发，显地加强南海季风，并有利于南海季风向北推进，但当海温在6月份进一步持续增温时，则有利于季风维持在较南地区，阻碍季风向北发展；当海温持续异常降低时，南海季风推迟爆发，且明显减弱。     

晚更新世间冰期时的南海海平面

从海蚀平面，晚更新世海积地面及其沙坝下伏的滨海相粘性土顶界高程等来看，距今约２０３万ａ的间冰段时南海高海面及其北部岸线接近现在的情况。晚更新世与全新世形成的海蚀平台类高，老，新沙坝比邻和类高，这是南海北部海岸的地貌的特色。     

三亚海洋环境试验站硅藻污损群落初探

【目的】探明海洋工程材料在热带海洋环境试验站硅藻污损群落的组成变化,为研究该海域材料腐蚀、生物污损以及生物多样性提供参考。【方法】取4种材料进行全浸腐蚀试验,定期取出试片冷藏客运到青岛,用次氯酸钠法制成永久封片,在带有微分干涉显微镜下记数,并使用PRIMER 6对硅藻Shannon多样性指数、Pielou’s均匀度指数和Simpson优势度进行计算。【结果】检出污损硅藻16目24科30属61种,其中双眉藻属、菱形藻属和舟形藻属为优势类群;物种多样性指数随时间而增加;热浸锌表面硅藻群落结构变化与其他3种材料有所不同。【结论】在南海热带近岸,材料表面性质对其表面附着的污损硅藻群落有一定影响,其中锌离子的影响较为明显。     

南海东部深海沉积物中孢粉与古环境研究

通过对南海东部294站深海柱状剖面高分辨孢粉、藻类的研究，将294站从下至上划分为7个孢粉组合带,依次为:Ⅰ带:Dacrydium-Pinus-Lithocarpus-Quercus(带绿)-Cyathea-Polypoldiace;Ⅱ带:Castanopsis-Lithocarpus-Dacrydium-Quercus(常绿)-Pinus-Polypodiace;Ⅲ带:Quercus(常绿)-Castanopsis-Podocarpus-Polypodiaceae;Ⅳ带:Polypodiaceae-Cyathea-Pteris-Pinus-Gramineae;Ⅴ带:Quercus(常绿)-Podocarpus-Lithocarpus-Cyathea-Polypodiaceae;Ⅵ带:Pinus-Quercus(常绿)-Palmae-Mangrove pollen-Gramineae;Ⅶ带:Dacrydium-Palmae-Mangrove Pollen-Pinus-Cyperaceae-Cyathea.并相应恢复了南海东部地区12万年以来5个植被、气候演替阶段，依次为：炎热、湿润的热带季雨林——暖热而稍干的热带北缘半常绿季雨林——炎热、湿润的热带季雨林——暖热而稍干的热带北缘半常绿季雨林——炎热、湿润的热带季雨林。结合氧同位素测年资料，对294站地层时代划分作了讨论，为南海古气候、古环境演变研究提供了科学的证据。