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.     

关于太平洋安全的中欧对话：展望太平洋：看得到合作的希望吗？

太平洋地区正呈现出紧张局势，这不仅体现在关键的中美关系上，而且也体现在中国与其东部和南中国海周边国家的关系上。正如白宫、美国外交部和五角大楼在2012年初正式宣布且具体实施的那样，美国注意力、行动和军力分配向太平洋地区的“再平衡”战略转移，及此战略背后的真实意图，都引起北京方面的关注。中国担心，美国从大西洋到太平洋的整体“战略转移”，     

解决南海问题的几点思考

我们都说南海处于"多事之秋",那么"南中国海之冬"这股寒流从何而来呢?我认为还是美国重返亚太带来的.目前对于美国重返亚太有两种看法:一是认为美国是为了凸显自己在亚太地区的军事存在,并非针对中国.二是认为美国就是为了包围中国、制衡中国.我个人认为,宁可信其有不可信其无.不论美国是否有能力包围中国,其意图肯定是存在的.     

南海周边其他国家态势扫描

菲律宾：南海问题上日趋强硬 南海问题是菲律宾政府重点关注的利益海域。菲政府首先企图通过国内立法“确认”南海主权利益，2009年2月众议院通过法案，将南沙群岛东部的部分岛礁和中沙群岛的黄岩岛划入了菲律宾领海基线范围内。2011年6月菲政府又宣布将菲律宾西部的南中国海改称为“西菲律宾海”。其次，借助东盟力量牵制中国，力图依托东盟作为其处理有关海洋安全问题的基础，     

菲律宾染指中国黄岩岛回溯

在北纬15°08′、东经117°45′处,南中国海温暖的海浪在这里激起大片浪花,浪花飞溅处,露出成片的珊瑚礁石。阳光下,那些礁石射出炫目的金光。这就是我国在南海上的重要岛屿之一——黄岩岛。     

基于ISCCP卫星资料的南中国海云量特征分析

为较准确地了解掌握可以反映南中国海天气和气候特征的云量分布演变特征,利用1999年1月至2009年12月的ISCCP卫星云量资料,通过物理量特征提取、对比分析等方法,研究了南中国海总云量及高、中、低云量的分布演变特征,以及其与其他海域各季节云量季节性变化特征。结果表明:南中国海低云量四季中均表现为由海区向沿岸递减,总云量和中、高云量夏秋季高于冬春季,低云量则相反。对于不同海域的云量细节特征要依据各季节大气和海洋环流变化来细致区分,这样有助于在掌握规律基础上有效制作海域上空云的预报。     

基于卫星观测数据的南中国海海平面变化与分析

本文利用美国宇航局和法国空间局联合公布的最新版本Jason-1卫星高度计数据,选取DNSC08模型为参考海平面,计算了2003～2007年共6年的南中国海海平面变化和全球平均海平面变化,采用最小二乘拟合提取出了南中国海和全球海平面变化的长期性趋势与季节性变化特征,并分析了两个区域变化之间的相关性。结果表明,南中国海长期趋势为1.26cm/a,全球变化长期趋势为2.1mm/a,两个区域之间的原始海平面变化时间序列相关为0.6,而其季节性变化特征相关性达到了0.97,但受近岸环境影响,南中国海局域海平面变化各项幅度均远大于全球变化。     

Sea surface temperature and terrestrial biomarker records of the last 260 ka of core MD05-2904 from the northern South China Sea

This paper reports high-resolution biomarker records of the last 260 ka for core MD05-2904 from the northern South China Sea （SCS）. The sea surface temperature （SST） record using the U37^k＇, index reveals a minimum of 21.5℃（MIS 2） and a maximum of 28.3℃（MIS 5.5）, for a temperature difference of almost 7℃, and provides the longest high-resolution U37^k＇ SST record in northern SCS. The content of odd-number long chain n-alkanes and several n-alkanes indexes such as the CPI, ACL and the C31/C27 ratio, all reveal generally higher values during the glacials and lower values during the interglaclals. Terrestrial input as Indicated by n-alkane content was mostly controlled by sea-level changes： During the glacials, lower sea-level exposed the continental shelf to enable rivers to transport more terrestrial materials to the slope; and the situation reverses during the interglacials. The n-alkane indexes changes reveal more n-alkanes from contemporary vegetation during glacials as a result of the proximity of the core site to the source region, while the increases in ACL and C81/C27 ratio during glaclals indicate a change to more grassy vegetation. However, the highest values for CPI, ACL and the C81/C27 ratio all occurred during late MIS 3, and it was suggested that this period was characterized by a strong summer monsoon-dominated humid climate which resulted in a denser vegetation for the exposed continental shelf region.     

Evaluation of a 3dVAR system for the South China Sea

The authors evaluate a three-dimensional variational （3dVAR） system for the South China Sea （SCS） in this study. The assimilation method applied in the system takes into consideration error correlation along each ground track and uses recursive filter for optimiza- tion. Data from three R/V cruises during the spring and summer of 1998 and the summer of 2000 are used to evaluate the system. The root-mean-square error and bias are reduced significantly and when the altimeter data are assimilated, the distribution of the error is much closer to the Gaussian distribution. Precipitation and river discharge in the southwestern SCS are reproduced, and the variability of sea surface height is efficiently transferred to the subsurface. The 3dVAR system performs well for each of the three cruises, suggesting that it is steady for routine usage.     

华人移民史

有记载的第一批来到澳大利亚的中国人是1750年登陆的商人,实际上中国人可能很早就来到了澳大利亚,并熟知从南中国海航海到新加坡补给,再到澳大利亚和新西兰的航线。1788年,英国开始向澳大利亚流放罪犯和殖民,中国人也开始在这里定居。当中国的港口向外国商船敞开之后,中国人也开始了海外移民的脚步,1850年左右,中国开始了第一次向澳大利亚的移民潮。