The high-resolution climate recorded in the δ18O ofPorites lutea from the Nansha Islands of China

A Porites lutea core from Yongshu Reef of Nansha Islands covering 50 years growth history was analyzed for oxygen isotopic composition with monthly and seasonally resolution. The calibration of the δ ¹⁸O with the instrumental temperature indicated that the coral δ ¹⁸O is a good indicator for sea surface temperature (SST) and air temperature ( t ). It can be used to reconstruct the SST and air temperature of the Yongshu Reef sea area. In addition, the coral δ ¹⁸O provides signatures for the intensity of the East Asia monsoon and it is a record for the activities of El Niño events. With the calibrated SST and air temperature formulas, the most recent fifty years SST and air temperature were reconstructed based on the coral δ ¹⁸O, thus back up the understanding of the climate of Nansha Islands to 1950, far beyond the limit of the instrumental recording since September 1988. It was found that, in general, increasing 1℃ air temperature results in 0.24‰ decrease in skeletal δ ¹⁸O.     

Response of the northwestern Pacific upper water δ~(13)C to the last deglacial ventilation of the deep Southern Ocean

The deglacial δ~13C minimum events that originated from the ventilation of the deep Southern Ocean around Antarctica, have been recorded in a range of marine sediments from the southern to tropical oceans in late Pleistocene. However, the broad δ~13C minimum event was also reported as far as to the northern middle latitudes, in northwestern Pacific marginal sea areas, during the last deglaciation. In the northwestern Pacific, forcing from the northern high latitudes is strongly expressed, while the records of in- fluence from the southern high latitudes are few. The Kuroshio Source Region (KSR) forms a boundary between the northwestern Pacific and the southern, tropical Pacific. So, high-resolution planktonic foraminiferal records in core MD06-3054 from the KSR are well positioned to identify signals from the southern hemisphere in the northwestern Pacific. Planktonic foraminiferal tests from the upper 1030 cm of the core were subject to AMS14C, carbon and oxygen isotopic measurements. A negative excursion was found to occur from about 20.0-6.0 ka BP in δ~13C records of both surface (Globigerinoides ruber) and subsurface (Pulleni- atina obliquiloculata) dwellers, but the overall trends of the two curves have reversed since 26.5 ka BP. Moreover, the δ~13C rec- ord of G. ruber (the surface dweller) shows a robust link to the record of atmospheric CO2, and its changes precede the records of P. obliquiloculata (the subsurface dweller). According to the hydrologic conditions, the broad δ~13C minimum event recorded in the KSR is also a response to the increasing ventilation of the deep Southern Ocean around Antarctica during the last deglaciation. The inconsistency between the records of the surface and subsurface dwellers was possibly caused by the ways that the low δ~13C signal was transmitted. Subsurface water primarily received the low δ~13C signal from the Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW), whereas the surface water was probably mainly impacted by atmospheric CO2 in the KSR. The records from the KSR confirm the deduction that the broad δ~13C minimum event in the Okinawa Trough was due to the impact of tropical Pacific surface water dur- ing the last deglaciation, and suggest that signals from the southern high latitudes also can be delivered to the northern middle latitudes.     

High-resolution stalagmite δ 13C record of soil processes from southwestern China during the early MIS 3

Knowledge of the evolution of pedogenic processes in the carbonate area is important to understand the dynamics of rock desertification.A precisely-dated stalagmite δ13C record between 61.3 and 50.5 ka BP from southwestern China,potentially related to soil biogenic CO2 production,shifts within a narrow range between -9‰ and -7‰,and exhibits a prominent cycle of 350-470 a,independent of the Asian monsoon changes.This indicates that a threshold effect might control the amplitude of calcite δ13C variability,likely associated with the vertical soil loss in the carbonate area.The periodic δ13C changes reflect that the loss/recovery of soil cover can operate on centennial scale.Thus,the rock desertification in southwestern China might at least initiate 60 ka ago and should be of natural origin.     

Foliar δ^13C and δ^15N values of C3 plants in the Ethiopia Rift Valley and their environmental controls

The foliar C and N stable isotopic compositions （δ^13C and δ^15N） and the relationships between these compositions and environmental factors of C3 plants in the Ethiopia Rift Valley were investigated. There were three distribution patterns for foliar δ^13C with mean values of -26.7‰±0.4‰, -29.7‰ ±0.6‰ , and -26.9‰± 1.2‰ in cold-moist, temperate-moist, and arid-hot environments, respectively. The δ^15N values ranged from -1.4‰ ±1.7‰ to 14.3‰ ± 0.1‰, with higher values under arid-hot conditions and the lowest values in plants growing at higher altitudes under cold-moist conditions. A strong negative relationship between mean annual precipitation and δ^15N explained more than half of the observed variation in the δ^15N values （r2= 0.54, P 〈 0.001）; a modest positive relationship was also found between δ^15N and temperature （r2 = 0.32, P 〈 0.01）. A weakly positive relationship existed between δ^13C and temperature, and changes in δ^13C values with precipitation and altitude followed quadratic curves. This suggests a shift in the effects of water and heat conditions caused by altitude on carbon isotopic discrimination.     

Spring upper warm water of the Nansha Islands sea area in the South China Sea and the numerical study on its dynamic mechanism

According to the satellite remote sensing monthly mean sea surface temperature data and in situ observational Conductivity-Temperature-Depth data, it is shown that in spring, at the upper layer to the west of Palawan Island, there exists a relatively weak warm water tongue which is distinctly different from the cold water southeast of the Balabac Strait. The relative temperature difference between the warm and cold water reduces gradually from winter to spring. P-vector method is employed to calculate the current field based on the in situ observational data, which shows that the warm water is within an anticyclonic meander. Based on the remote sensing wind stress during the observational period, a coupled single-layer/two-layer model is employed to study the dynamic mechanism of this anticyclonic meander current field corresponding to the warm water tongue. According to the numerical results, it is suggested that this anticyclonic meander could be mainly the residue of the winter anticyclonic eddy, rather than formed by the inflow water from the Sulu Sea via the Balabac Strait.     

δ~(13)C difference between plants and soil organic matter along the eastern slope of Mount Gongga

Carbon isotope ratios (δ 13C) of plants, litter and soil organic matter (0–5 cm, 5–10 cm and 10–20 cm) on the eastern slope of Mount Gongga were measured. The results show that δ 13C values of plants, litter and soil organic matter all decrease first and then increase with altitude, i.e. δ 13C values gradually decrease from 1200 to 2100 m a.s.l., and increase from 2100 to 4500 m a.s.l. The δ 13C altitudinal variations are related to the distribution of C3 and C4 plants on the eastern slope of Mount Gongga, ...     

Quality vs. quantity of publications in nanotechnology field from the People’s Republic of China

This study evaluates trends in quality of nanotechnology and nanoscience papers produced by authors from the People＇s Republic of China （PRC）. The metric used to gauge quality is ratio of highly cited nanotechnology papers to total nanotechnology papers produced in sequential time frames. The USA is both the most prolific nanotechnology publishing country and most represented country on highly cited nanotechnology papers （both in absolute numbers of highly cited papers and highly cited papers relative to total publications） over the 1998-2003 time frame, based on the SCl/SSCl databases. Some of the smaller hi-tech countries have relatively high ratios （-2） of highly cited papers to total publications （e.g. Denmark, Netherlands, Switzerland）. Countries that have exhibited rapid growth in SCl/SSCl nanotechnology paper production in recent years （e.g. PRC, South Korea） had ratios an order of magnitude less than that of the USA for 1998, but by 2003 had increased to about 20% that of the USA （-2.5）. PRC and South Korea have climbed in the publications rankings from 6th and 9th in 1998, respectively, to 2nd and 6th in 2005, respectively. PRC＇s ratio monotonically increased from 0.16 to 0.45 over the 1998-2003 period, and South Korea＇s ratio increased from 0.11 to about 0.6 over that same period, indicating their papers are getting more and more citations proportionately. Thus, under rapid growth conditions, PRC and South Korea have been able to increase their share of participation in highly cited papers. As of 2003, PRC and South Korea have ratios comparable to nations like Japan, France, Italy, and Australia but not yet approaching those of the highly cited countries. None of the top ten publications producing institutions are from the USA, while all of the top ten highly cited publications producers are from the USA. Over the 1998-2003 time period, the top six total publications producing institutions （globally） remained the same, with Chinese Academy of Sciences （which consists     

Characteristics of δ~(18)O in precipitation over Eastern Monsoon China and the water vapor sources

Monsoon circulation is an important carrier of water vapor transport, and it impacts the precipitation of the monsoonal regions through the constraints and controls of large-scale water vapor transport and distributions as well as the water vapor balance. An overall research on stable Hydrogen and Oxygen isotopes in precipitation over Eastern Monsoon China could benefit a comprehensive understanding of the monsoonal precipitation mechanism. Seventeen field stations of the Chinese Network of Isotopes in Prec...     

Opening of the Tethys in southwest China and its significance to the breakup of East Gondwanaland in late Paleozoic:Evidence from SHRIMP U-Pb zircon analyses for the Garzêophiolite block

The orogeny in the Sanjiang area in southwest Chinahas traditionally been considered as the product of theevolution of the Tethys in the late Paleozoic to the earlyMesozoic, and strongly affected by India-Asia collision inthe Cenozoic. Geological mappings showed that the San-jiang area contains four tectonic mélanges, named theGarzê-Litang, Jinshajiang-Ailaoshan, Lancangjiang-Men-glian-Changning and Dingqing-Basu ophiolite mélanges,associated with the Yidun, Jomda-Weixi, Suiba-Nanzu…     

Changes in tropospheric ozone levels over the Three Representative Regions of China observed from space by the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES), 2005–2010

Tropospheric ozone observations over China from 2005 to 2010 at three pressure levels (484,681 and 825 hPa) from the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer on board the NASA Aura satellite have been analyzed.Fourier Transform analysis revealed the trends and seasonality of regionally-averaged,monthly-mean ozone concentrations over western,northern and southern China.Significant increases in ozone levels are found over all three regions at 464 hPa and the rate of increase is fastest over northern China,reaching 0.89±0.059 nL/(La).At 681 hPa,ozone shows increases over northern and western China,at a rate of 0.57± 0.065 nL/(La) and 0.41±0.041 nL/(La) respectively,but is constant over southern China.At 825 hPa,ozone increases at a rate of 0.36±0.074 nL/(La) over northern China,while decreasing over southern China at a rate of 0.21±0.061 nL/(La).Over the three regions,ozone levels are generally higher in summer and lower in winter.Over southern China at all three pressure levels and northern China at the 825 hPa level,ozone shows double peaks occurring in spring and autumn as a result of the combined effects of atmospheric chemistry and global transport.This work provides a useful observational dataset and tools for future analysis of changes in tropospheric ozone over China.