Acoustic backscattering measurement from sandy seafloor at 6–24 kHz in the South Yellow Sea

The acoustic bottom backscattering strength was measured at the frequency range of 6–24 kHz on a typical sandy bottom in the South Yellow Sea by using omnidirectional sources and omnidirectional receiving hydrophones. In the experiment, by avoiding disturbances due to scattering off the sea surface and satisfying the far-field condition, we obtained values of acoustic bottom backscattering strength ranging from –41.1 to –24.4 dB within a grazing angle range of 18°–80°. In the effective range of grazing angles, the acoustic scattering strength generally increases with an increase in the grazing angles, but trends of the variation were distinct in different ranges of frequency, which reflect different scattering mechanisms. The frequency dependence of bottom backscattering strength is generally characterized by a positive correlation in the entire frequency range of 6–24 kHz at the grazing angles of 20°, 40° and 60° with the linear regression slopes of 0.222 9 dB/kHz, 0.513 0 dB/kHz and 0.174 6 dB/kHz, respectively. At the largest grazing angle of 80°, the acoustic backscattering strength exhibits no evident frequency dependence.     

Changes in the population structure of Calanus sinicus during summer–autumn in the southern Yellow Sea

Calanus sinicus is a calanoid copepod widely distributed in coastal waters of China and Japan, and oversummering strategies may have major impacts on their population dynamics which in turn affect local marine food web structure. The abundance, stage composition, and sex composition of the planktonic copepod C. sinicus were studied from August to October 2002 in the southern Yellow Sea to understand how its population recovers from the over-summering state. Results showed that C. sinicus had low reproduction in August due to high temperature, except in waters near the Cheju Island with rich food and moderate bottom temperature, but the reproduction rates here decreased in September–October as food availability declined. When temperature dropped in September–October, C. sinicus actively propagated in coastal shallow waters. However, reproduction rates of C. sinicus individuals inhabiting the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass(YSCWM) remained low during the three months of the study. The percentage of C. sinicus females was high during the reproductive period, which suggests that the sex composition of adult C. sinicus may reflect whether or not the population is in the reproductive mode.Numerous fifth copepodite stage(CV) C. sinicus aggregated in the YSCWM in a suspended developmental stage during the three months of this study, and they potentially served as the parental individuals for population development when conditions became optimal for reproduction later in the year.     

Study on the carbon flux in the South China Sea

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Dramatic weakening of the ear-shaped thermal front in the Yellow Sea during 1950s–1990s

The ear-shaped thermal front(ESTF), formed by the convergence of the Yellow Sea Warm Current(YSWC) and the Shandong Coastal Current(SCC), is a very important oceanic phenomenon in the Yellow Sea(YS) in winter. In situ measurements and reanalysis datasets all demonstrate that the ESTF has been weakening during1950s–1990s, and a similar weakening trend is also found in winter monsoon over the YS. Numerical experiments show that the weakening of winter monsoon can induce an anomalous circulation in the YS on multi-decadal timescale with northward anomalous currents along China's coast and southward anomalous currents in the central YS—generally opposite to seasonal mean circulation. The anomalous circulation causes slowdown of the YSWC and the SCC, and thus weakens the ESTF. Since the ESTF plays important roles in regional ocean dynamics and air-sea interactions, its weakening has important implications for regional climate in the YS in winter.     

Study on short-range numerical forecasting of ocean current in the East China Sea Ⅱ. Three-dimensional diagnostic model and its application in the Bohai Sea

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Deposition of duststorm particles during 2000–2012 in the South Yellow Sea,China based on satellite data

In this study,about 220 satellite images between 2000 and 2012 were obtained from FY-series,MODIS,CBERS,HJ-1A and HJ-1B to estimate the impact of duststorms on the South Yellow Sea(SYS),which serve as an important source of particles there.The analyzing results from the images support a total occurrence of 88 duststorms(including the locally-generated dusty weather) that affected the SYS during 2000–2012.The annual occurrence was about 4–10 times(10 times in 2000 and 2004;four times in 2009 and 2012),predominantly in March(29%),April(33%) and May(22%).By mapping the distribution of their frequency,the duststorms influencing the SYS were found primarily moving from the northwest(39 times,44.3%) and west(37 times,42%) to the study region with only 11 duststorms(12.5%) coming from the north and 1 duststorm(1%) from the southwest.We estimated that an annual amount of 0.5–3.5 million tons of sediment particles was brought to the SYS by the duststorms during 2000–2012.     

Coccolith assemblages and their response to climate and surface hydrography in the Yellow Sea,Northwest Pacific,AD 1780–2011

A study of coccolith assemblages from a box core from the central South Yellow Sea(SYS) was performed revealing fluctuations on their relative abundance(%) that can be related to climatic and hydrographic changes over the last 230 years(1780–2011). Total coccolith abundances ranged from 7.0 to 55.1×10~6 coccoliths·g~(-1)sediment. Although the abundance of different species varied widely throughout the core, seven taxa dominated the assemblage. Among these species, Gephyrocapsa oceanica was the most dominant species, and it showed an average percentage of 50.1%. The pattern of G. oceanica(eutrophic species) was opposite to that of the combined percentage of Braarudosphaera bigelowii and Umbilicosphaera sibogae(both oligotrophic species), indicating that in the Yellow Sea(YS), the distribution pattern of G. oceanica might be characteristic of nutrient availability.Similar patterns between G. oceanica and the Siberian High were observed on an inter-decadal time scale,indicating that the East Asian Winter Monsoon(EAWM) may be an important driver of ecological changes in the YS. When the EAWM prevails, both the Yellow Sea Coastal Current(YSCC) and Yellow Sea Warm Current(YSWC)strengthen, and the increasing nutrient availability and warmer water brought by the strengthened YSWC favor eutrophic and warm-water coccolithophore species, such as G. oceanica. This likely mechanism demonstrates that coccolith assemblages can be used as benign and reliable proxy for climate change and surface oceanography.     

Warming and salinification of Labrador Sea Water and deep waters in the subpolar North Atlantic at 60°N in 1997–2006

A quantitative estimate of the temperature and salinity variations in the Labrador Sea Water (LSW), the Iceland-Scotland Overflow Water (ISOW), and the Denmark Strait Overflow Water (DSOW) is given on the basis of the analysis of repeated observations over a transatlantic section along 60°N in 1997, 2002, 2004, and 2006. The changes distinguished in the research evidence strong warming and salinification in the layers of the Labrador Sea Water and deep waters at the latitude of the section. The maximum increments of the temperature (+0.35°C) and salinity (+0.05 psu) were found in the Irminger Basin in the core of the deep LSW, whose convective renewal in the Labrador Sea stopped in the mid-1990s. The long-term freshening of the ISOW, which started in the mid-1960s, changed in the mid-1990s to a period of intense stable warming and salinification of this water. By 2005, the salinity in the core of the ISOW in the Iceland Basin increased to the values (～34.99 psu) characteristic of the mid-1970s. In 2002, the warming “signal” of the ISOW reached the Irminger Basin. From 1997 to 2006, the warming and salinification of the columns of the Labrador Sea Water and deep waters became as high as 0.2°C and 0.03 psu, respectively. The character of the long-term variations in the thermohaline properties of the LSW and ISOW from the 1950s evidence that these variations were nearly in-phase and correlated with the low-frequency component of the North Atlantic Oscillation.     

Comparison of carbonate parameters and air–sea CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> flux in the southern Yellow Sea and East China Sea during spring and summer of 2011

In this work, we examined the carbonate parameters, i.e. total alkalinity (TA), pH, and partial pressure of CO₂ (pCO₂), and the air–sea CO₂ flux (FCO₂) in the continental shelves of the southern Yellow Sea (SYS) and East China Sea (ECS), based on two field surveys conducted in April and August of 2011. Surface pCO₂ showed significant spatial variations, ranging from 246 to 686 µatm in spring (average ± standard deviation = 379 ± 95 µatm) and from 178 to 680 µatm in summer (384 ± 114 µatm). During the spring cruise, the central SYS (pCO₂ < 240 µatm) and the Changjiang estuary (pCO₂ < 300 µatm) were under-saturated with CO₂, while the southern SYS and the southwestern ECS were supersaturated (pCO₂ = 420–680 µatm). In summer, however, the CO₂-supersaturated waters (pCO₂ = 380–680 µatm) occupied a relatively wide area, including the nearshore of the SYS and the Changjiang estuary, whereas pCO₂-deficient water (pCO₂ = 220–380 µatm) was observed only at the offshore ECS. In general, the entire SYS and ECS area behaved as a sustained CO₂ sink, with average FCO₂ of ?3.9 and ?2.1 mmol m^?2 d^?1 in spring and summer, respectively. Phytoplankton production was the driving force for CO₂ absorption, especially during the spring cruise. In addition, we found that typical water mixing processes and decomposition of terrestrial material were responsible for the release of CO₂ in three turbidity maximum regions.     

The variation of turbulent diapycnal mixing at 18°N in the South China Sea stirred by wind stress

The spatial and temporal variations of turbulent diapycnal mixing along 18°N in the South China Sea(SCS) are estimated by a fine-scale parameterization method based on strain, which is obtained from CTD measurements in yearly September from 2004 to 2010. The section mean diffusivity can reach ~10~(–4)m~2/s, which is an order of magnitude larger than the value in the open ocean. Both internal tides and wind-generated near-inertial internal waves play an important role in furnishing the diapycnal mixing here. The former dominates the diapycnal mixing in the deep ocean and makes nonnegligible contribution in the upper ocean, leading to enhanced diapycnal mixing throughout the water column over rough topography. In contrast, the influence of the wind-induced nearinertial internal wave is mainly confined to the upper ocean. Over both flat and rough bathymetries, the diapycnal diffusivity has a growth trend from 2005 to 2010 in the upper 700 m, which results from the increase of wind work on the near-inertial motions.     

Trends of sea surface temperature and sea surface temperature fronts in the South China Sea during 2003–2017

The trends of the sea surface temperature(SST) and SST fronts in the South China Sea(SCS) are analyzed during2003–2017 using high-resolution satellite data. The linear trend of the basin averaged SST is 0.31°C per decade,with the strongest warming identified in southeastern Vietnam. Although the rate of warming is comparable in summer and winter for the entire basin, the corresponding spatial patterns of the linear trend are substantially different between them. The SST trend to the west of the Luzon Strait is characterized by rapid warming in summer, exceeding approximately 0.6°C per decade, but the trend is insignificant in winter. The strongest warming trend occurs in the southeast of Vietnam in winter, with much less pronounced warming in summer. A positive trend of SST fronts is identified for the coast of China and is associated with increasing wind stress. The increasing trend of SST fronts is also found in the east of Vietnam. Large-scale circulation, such as El Ni?o, can influence the trends of the SST and SST fronts. A significant correlation is found between the SST anomaly and Ni?o3.4 index, and the ENSO signal leads by eight months. The basin averaged SST linear trends increase after the El Ni?o event(2009–2010), which is, at least, due to the rapid warming rate causing by the enhanced northeasterly wind. Peaks of positive anomalous SST and negatively anomalous SST fronts are found to co-occur with the strong El Ni?o events.