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Gas hydrate research has significant importance for securing world energy resources, and has the potential to produce considerable economic benefits. Previous studies have shown that the South China Sea is an area that harbors gas hydrates. However, there is a lack of systematic investigations and understanding on the distribution of gas hydrate throughout the region. In this paper, we applied mineral resource quantitative assessment techniques to forecast and estimate the potential distribution of gas hydrate resources in the northern South China Sea. However, current hydrate samples from the South China Sea are too few to produce models of occurrences. Thus, according to similarity and contrast principles of mineral outputs, we can use a similar hydrate-mining environment with sufficient gas hydrate data as a testing ground for modeling northern South China Sea gas hydrate conditions. We selected the Gulf of Mexico, which has extensively studied gas hydrates, to develop predictive models of gas hydrate distributions, and to test errors in the model. Then, we compared the existing northern South China Sea hydrate-mining data with the Gulf of Mexico characteristics, and collated the relevant data into the model. Subsequently, we applied the model to the northern South China Sea to obtain the potential gas hydrate distribution of the area, and to identify significant exploration targets. Finally, we evaluated the reliability of the predicted results. The south seabed area of Taiwan Bank is recommended as a priority exploration target. The Zhujiang Mouth, Southeast Hainan, and Southwest Taiwan Basins, including the South Bijia Basin, also are recommended as exploration target areas. In addition, the method in this paper can provide a useful predictive approach for gas hydrate resource assessment, which gives a scientific basis for construction and implementation of long-term planning for gas hydrate exploration and general exploitation of the seabed of China.

High frequency ground wave radar (HFGWR) has unique advantage in the survey of dynamical factors, such as sea surface current, sea wave, and sea surface wind in marine conditions in coastal sea area. Compared to marine satellite remote sensing, it involves lower cost, has higher measuring accuracy and spatial resolution and sampling frequency. High frequency ground wave radar is a new land based remote sensing instrument with superior vision and greater application potentials. This paper reviews the development history and application status of high frequency wave radar, introduces its remote-sensing principle and method to inverse offshore fluid, and wave and wind field. Based on the author's “863 Project”, this paper recounts comparison and verification of radar remote-sensing value, the physical calibration of radar-measured data and methods to control the quality of radar-sensing data. The authors discuss the precision of radar-sensing data's inversing on off-shore fluid field and application of the assimilated data on assimilation.

A synoptic-scale upwelling event that developed offthe east coast of the Hainan Island (EHIU) in the summer of 2010 is defined well via processing the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sea surface temperature (SST) data. The Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) with high spatial resolution has been used to investigate this upwelling event. By comparing the ROMS results against tide station data, Argo float profiles and MODIS SST, it is confirmed that the ROMS reproduces the EHIU well. The cooler-water core (CWC) distinguished by waters < 27.5°C in the EHIU, which occurred in the east Qiongzhou Strait mouth area and was bounded by a high temperature gradient, was the focus of this paper. Vertical structure of the CWC suggests that interaction between the westward flow and the bathymetry slope played a significant role in the formation of CWC. Numerical experiments indicated that the westward flow in the Qiongzhou Strait was the result of tidal rectification over variable topography (Shi et al., 2002), thus tides played a critical role on the development of the CWC. The negative wind stress curl that dominated the east Qiongzhou Strait mouth area suppressed the intensity of the CWC by 0.2–0.4°C. Further, nonlinear interaction between tidal currents and wind stress enhanced vertical mixing greatly, which would benefit the development of the CWC.

The Taiwan Warm Current Deep Water (or the East China Sea Upper Layer Water, or the East China Sea Subsurface Water) lying in the deep and bottom layers off the coast of Fujian-Zhejiang is one of the main watermasses in the continental shelf region of the western East China Sea. The hydrographical conditions and the fishery productions in this region are affected remarkably by the decline and growth of the Taiwan Warm Current Deep Water. Although the temperature, salinity and origin of the Taiwan Warm Current Deep Water have been investigated[3] by oceanographers the world over, there are up to now few papers published on its characteristics of ariations (seasonal and multiyear variations). Understanding of this problem will be helpful to further characterize this watermass. For this reason, in this paper, section 28°N representing the middle Taiwan Warm Current Deep Water and section 30°N representing the northern Taiwan Warm Current Deep Water are taken for examples, and the method of similar coefficient is used for analysis of this problem.

This paper, based on field data and experimental results, gives an analysis and summary of the types and salt-forming characteristics of salt lakes in Xinjiang, and the distribution and chemical compositions of their brines and groups of salt minerals. The evolution and substance origins of the salt lakes and their salt-forming regularities as seen from analyses of their paleogeographic environment and geological tectonics are also reported. This paper will serve as a reference for further investigation of the Xinjiang salt lakes, and as a guide for fuller utilization of their resources.

Directional wave spectra and integrated wave parameters can be derived from X-band radar sea surface images. A vessel on the sea surface has a significant influence on wave parameter inversions that can be seen as intensive backscatter speckles in X-band wave monitoring radar sea surface images. A novel algorithm to eliminate the interference of vessels in ocean wave height inversions from X-band wave monitoring radar is proposed. This algorithm is based on the characteristics of the interference. The principal components (PCs) of a sea surface image sequence are extracted using empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis. The standard deviation of the PCs is then used to identify vessel interference within the image sequence. To mitigate the interference, a suppression method based on a frequency domain geometric model is applied. The algorithm framework has been applied to OSMAR-X, a wave monitoring system developed by Wuhan University, based on nautical X-band radar. Several sea surface images captured on vessels by OSMAR-X are processed using the method proposed in this paper. Inversion schemes are validated by comparisons with data from in situ wave buoys. The root-mean-square error between the significant wave heights (SWH) retrieved from original interference radar images and those measured by the buoy is reduced by 0.25 m. The determinations of surface gravity wave parameters, in particular SWH, confirm the applicability of the proposed method.

This paper proposes a joint method to simultaneously retrieve wave spectra at different scales from spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and wave spectrometer data. The method combines the output from the two different sensors to overcome retrieval limitations that occur in some sea states. The wave spectrometer sensitivity coefficient is estimated using an effective significant wave height (SWH), which is an average of SAR-derived and wave spectrometer-derived SWH. This averaging extends the area of the sea surface sampled by the nadir beam of the wave spectrometer to improve the accuracy of the estimated sensitivity coefficient in inhomogeneous sea states. Wave spectra are then retrieved from SAR data using wave spectrometer-derived spectra as first guess spectra to complement the short waves lost in SAR data retrieval. In addition, the problem of 180° ambiguity in retrieved spectra is overcome using SAR imaginary cross spectra. Simulated data were used to validate the joint method. The simulations demonstrated that retrieved wave parameters, including SWH, peak wave length (PWL), and peak wave direction (PWD), agree well with reference parameters. Collocated data from ENVISAT advanced SAR (ASAR), the airborne wave spectrometer STORM, the PHAROS buoy, and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) were then used to verify the proposed method. Wave parameters retrieved from STORM and two ASAR images were compared to buoy and ECMWF wave data. Most of the retrieved parameters were comparable to reference parameters. The results of this study show that the proposed joint retrieval method could be a valuable complement to traditional methods used to retrieve directional ocean wave spectra, particularly in inhomogeneous sea states.

The oceanic front is a narrow zone in which water properties change abruptly within a short distance. The sea surface temperature (SST) front is an important type of oceanic front, which plays a significant role in many fields including fisheries, the military, and industry. Satellite-derived SST images have been used widely for front detection, although these data are susceptible to influence by many objective factors such as clouds, which can cause missing data and a reduction in front detection accuracy. However, front detection in a single SST image cannot fully reflect its temporal variability and therefore, the long-term mean frequency of occurrence of SST fronts and their gradients are often used to analyze the variations of fronts over time. In this paper, an SST front composite algorithm is proposed that exploits the frontal average gradient and frequency more effectively. Through experiments based on MODIS Terra and Aqua data, we verified that fronts could be distinguished better by using the proposed algorithm. Additionally through its use, we analyzed the monthly variations of fronts in the Bohai, Yellow, and East China Seas, based on Terra data from 2000 to 2013.

This paper proposes a scheme for detecting the swell decay of a moving typhoon. We considered a typhoon that was neither far from a point source nor had a belt-like homogenous source, as previously studied. We tracked the swell close to the source during a typhoon in the western North Pacific Ocean. We used wind speed and significant wave height data derived from the Geophysical Data Record of the Jason-1 altimeter and the best-track information of the typhoon from the China Meteorological Administration tropical cyclone database. We selected three specific cases to reveal the decay characteristics of the swell generated by a moving typhoon. Based on an altimeter-based typhoon swell identification scheme and the dispersion relationship for deep water, we relocated the swell source for each altimeter measurement. The subsequent statistical decay coefficient was comparable to previous studies, and effectively depicted the swell propagation conditions induced by the typhoon. We hope that our results provide a new understanding of the characteristics and wave energy budget of the North Pacific Ocean, and significantly contribute to wave modeling in this region.

A new in-situ seabed acoustic measurement system is developed for direct in-situ measurement of sediment geoacoustic properties (compressional wave velocity and attenuation). The new in-situ system consists of two parts: the deck control unit and the underwater measurement unit. The underwater measurement unit emits sonic waves that propagate through the seafloor sediment, receives the returning signals, and transmits them to the deck control unit for waveform display and analysis. The entire operation is controlled and monitored in real time by the deck control unit on the research vessel and can provide recording of full waveforms to determine the sound velocity and attenuation. This paper outlines the design of the system, the measurement process, and demonstrates its application in tests carried out on seabed sediment off the Qingdao coast, China. The test results show that the system performed well and rapidly provided accurate in-situ acoustic velocity and attenuation estimates of the seafloor sediment.

This paper presents a paleoflood study to determine the flood frequency of the Changjiang River, based on core cj0702, taken from the Changjiang River subaqueous delta. We identified flood deposits by means of high-resolution grain-size variation, sensitive population, geochemical indexes and magnetic susceptibility. The core covers a time span of 120 years by 210Pb dating and was sampled at 1–2 cm intervals. Grain size, geochemical elements, and physical parameters were analyzed. The results indicate that the sediment of the core is mainly composed of silt and clay, as well as groups of interbedded silt, clay silt, and clay. Vertically, the grain size pattern was controlled by seasonal variations in water discharge and by the sediment input in winter from the abandoned Huanghe River delta. River flooding caused extreme values in all our measured parameters. We identified more than 20 flood events that occurred since 1887 using the physical parameter analysis method. The environmentally sensitive component of sediment grain size (14.32–96.39 μm) contribution>30%, Zr/Rb ratio>1.5, and magnetic susceptibility>16 were selected as the criteria for flood identification generally. We also found that floods that had taken place in the upstream, midstream, or downstream parts of the river were clearly identified by these indexes while the large-scale floods that covered the whole drainage area did not leave clear indications in the sediment record. This study for identification of flood events is of great significance for understanding hyperpycnal current sedimentation as well as for forecasting of floods.

Previous studies carried out in the East China Sea (ECS) mud area focused on long-term environmental changes in sedimentary records during the Holocene, especially during the mid-Holocene high-stand water levels period. These results indicate that sensitive grain size groups can be used as a sedimentary proxy to reconstruct the evolution of the East Asian Winter Monsoon (EAWM). The studies have been carried out mainly in the northern and middle portions of the Zhejiang-Fujian coastal mud, however, similar research in the southern portion and the comparison between sedimentary proxy and modern measured data of EAWM are lacking. In this paper, we focused on a sedimentary record of the past 100 years with an enhanced resolution of 1.8 years. Investigations of the southern end of the Zhejiang-Fujian coastal mud area were conducted on the basis of 210Pb chronology, grain-size analysis and chemical element analysis. The correspondence between the mean grain size (Mz) of sediment sensitive grain size and the measured EAWM was confi rmed for the fi rst time. We found that during the recent 100 years, the variation of the mean grain size of the sensitive population in the southern portion of the Zhejiang-Fujian mud was mainly controlled by the EAWM intensity changes; and not directly related to changes in the sediment discharge from Datong station of the Changjiang River (DTSD). Finally, recent changes in the content of heavy metals in study area refl ect the impact of human activities on the environment.

This paper attempts to analyze in detail the remote influence of the Indian Ocean Basin warming on the Northwest Pacific (NWP) during the year of decaying El Nino. Observation data and the Fast Ocean-Atmosphere coupled Model 1.5 were used to investigate the triggering conditions under which the remote influence is formed between the positive sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly in the North Indian Ocean and the Anomalous Northwest Pacific anticyclone (ANWPA). Our research show that it is only when there is a contributory background wind field over the Indian Ocean, i.e., when the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) reaches its peak, that the warmer SST anomaly in the North Indian Ocean incites significant easterly wind anomalies in the lower atmosphere of the Indo-West tropical Pacific. This then produces the remote influence on the ANWPA. Therefore, the SST anomaly in the North Indian Ocean might interfere with the prediction of the East Asia Summer Monsoon in the year of decaying El Nino. Both the sustaining effect of local negative SST anomalies in the NWP, and the remote effect of positive SST anomalies in the North Indian Ocean on the ANWPA, should be considered in further research.

In this paper, we present measurements of velocity, temperature, salinity, and turbulence collected in Prydz Bay, Antarctica, during February, 2005. The dissipation rates of turbulent kinetic energy (ɛ) and diapycnal diffusivities (K z ) were estimated along a section in front of the Amery Ice Shelf. The dissipation rates and diapycnal diffusivities were spatially non-uniform, with higher values found in the western half of the section where ɛ reached 10−7 W/kg and K z reached 10−2 m2/s, about two and three orders of magnitude higher than those in the open ocean, respectively. In the western half of the section both the dissipation rates and diffusivities showed a high-low-high vertical structure. This vertical structure may have been determined by internal waves in the upper layer, where the ice shelf draft acts as a possible energy source, and by bottom-generated internal waves in the lower layer, where both tides and geostrophic currents are possible energy sources. The intense diapycnal mixing revealed in our observations could contribute to the production of Antarctic Bottom Water in Prydz Bay.

Seismic wave modeling is a cornerstone of geophysical data acquisition, processing, and interpretation, for which finite-difference methods are often applied. In this paper, we extend the velocity-pressure formulation of the acoustic wave equation to marine seismic modeling using the staggered-grid finite-difference method. The scheme is developed using a fourth-order spatial and a second-order temporal operator. Then, we define a stability coefficient (SC) and calculate its maximum value under the stability condition. Based on the dispersion relationship, we conduct a detailed dispersion analysis for submarine sediments in terms of the phase and group velocity over a range of angles, stability coefficients, and orders. We also compare the numerical solution with the exact solution for a P-wave line source in a homogeneous submarine model. Additionally, the numerical results determined by a Marmousi2 model with a rugged seafloor indicate that this method is sufficient for modeling complex submarine structures.

Submarine landslides occur frequently on most continental margins. They are effective mechanisms of sediment transfer but also a geological hazard to seafloor installations. In this paper, submarine slope stability is evaluated using a 2D limit equilibrium method. Considerations of slope, sediment, and triggering force on the factor of safety (FOS) were calculated in drained and undrained (I broken vertical bar=0) cases. Results show that submarine slopes are stable when the slope is 13A degrees with earthquake peak ground acceleration (PGA) of 0.5 g; whereas with a weak layer, a PGA of 0.2 g could trigger instability at slopes > 10A degrees, and > 3A degrees for PGA of 0.5 g. The northern slope of the South China Sea is geomorphologically stable under static conditions. However, because of the possibility of high PGA at the eastern margin of the South China Sea, submarine slides are likely on the Taiwan Bank slope and eastern part of the Dongsha slope. Therefore, submarine slides recognized in seismic profiles on the Taiwan Bank slope would be triggered by an earthquake, the most important factor for triggering submarine slides on the northern slope of the South China Sea. Considering the distribution of PGA, we consider the northern slope of the South China Sea to be stable, excluding the Taiwan Bank slope, which is tectonically active.

The inter-annual variability of the tropical Pacific Subsurface Ocean Temperature Anomaly (SOTA) and the associated anomalous atmospheric circulation over the Asian North Pacific during the El Nio-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) were investigated using National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) atmospheric reanalysis data and simple ocean data simulation (SODA). The relationship between the ENSO and the climate of China was revealed. The main results indicated the following: 1) there are two ENSO modes acting on the subsurface tropical Pacific. The first mode is related to the mature phase of ENSO, which mainly appears during winter. The second mode is associated with a transition stage of the ENSO developing or decaying, which mainly occurs during summer; 2) during the mature phase of El Nio, the meridionality of the atmosphere in the mid-high latitude increases, the Aleutian low and high pressure ridge over Lake Baikal strengthens, northerly winds prevail in northern China, and precipitation in northern China decreases significantly. The ridge of the Ural High strengthens during the decaying phase of El Nio, as atmospheric circulation is sustained during winter, and the northerly wind anomaly appears in northern China during summer. Due to the ascending branch of the Walker circulation over the western Pacific, the western Pacific Subtropical High becomes weaker, and south-southeasterly winds prevail over southern China. As a result, less rainfall occurs over northern China and more rainfall over the Changjiang River basin and the southwestern and eastern region of Inner Mongolia. The flood disaster that occurred south of Changjiang River can be attributed to this. The La Nia event causes an opposite, but weaker effect; 3) the ENSO cycle can influence climate anomalies within China via zonal and meridional heat transport. This is known as the "atmospheric-bridge", where the energy anomaly within the tropical Pacific transfers to the mid-high latitude in the northern Pacific through Hadley cells and Rossby waves, and to the western Pacific-eastern Indian Ocean through Walker circulation. This research also discusses the special air-sea boundary processes during the ENSO events in the tropical Pacific, and indicates that the influence of the subsurface water of the tropical Pacific on the atmospheric circulation may be realized through the sea surface temperature anomalies of the mixed water, which contact the atmosphere and transfer the anomalous heat and moisture to the atmosphere directly. Moreover, the reason for the heavy flood within the Changjiang River during the summer of 1998 is reviewed in this paper.

As it is well-known, the North Equatorial Current (NEC) bifurcates into the Kuroshio flowing northward and the equatorward Mindanao Current, which is well depicted by Munk’s theory in 1950 in terms of its climatology. However, Munk’s theory is unable to tell the NEC bifurcation variability with time. In the present paper, a time-dependent baroclinic model forced by wind, in which temporal and baroclinic terms are added to Munk’s equation, is proposed to examine the seasonal variability of the NEC bifurcation latitude. An analytical solution is obtained, with which the seasonal variability can be well described: NEC bifurcation reaches its northernmost position in December and its southernmost position in June with a range of about 1° in latitude, consistent with previous results with observations. The present solution will degenerate to Munk’s one in the case of steady and barotropic state.

As a unique low-temperature water mass in Antarctic coastal region, the Ice Shelf Water (ISW) is an important component for the formation of the Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW). In this paper, we present a criterion for ISW identification based on freezing point at the sea surface, and we study spatial distribution of ISW in front of the Amery Ice Shelf (AIS) and its flow path in Prydz Bay by analyzing hydrographic data from Australian cruises in 2001 and 2002, as well as Chinese cruises in 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2008, all being made in the austral summer. The relatively cold and fresh ISW occurred as several discrete water blocks with cold cores in front of the AIS, within the depth range of 100–600 m, under the seasonal thermocline. ISW had obvious temporal and spatial variations and the spatial distribution pattern changed greatly after 2005. Most of ISW was concentrated west of 73°E during 2001 to 2003 and 2006, but it was widespread to east in 2005 and 2008. In all observation years, a small amount of cold ISW always occurs at the west end of the AIS front section, where the coldest ISW in the whole section also occurred in 2001, 2003 and 2006. Considering general cyclonic circulation pattern under the AIS, the ISW flowing out from west end of the AIS front might have experienced the longest cooling period under ice shelf, so it would have the lowest temperature. Analysis of data from meridian sections in Prydz Bay in 2003 implied that ISW in the west could spread north to the continental break along the east flank of the Fram Bank near 70.5°E, mix with the upwelling Circumpolar Deep Water and possibly contribute to the formation of AABW.

The climatology subduction rate for the entire Pacific is known, but the mechanism of interannual to decadal variation remains unclear. In this study, we calculated the annual subduction rates of three types of North Pacific subtropical mode waters using a general circulation model (LICOM1.0) for the period of 1958–2001. The model experiments focused on interannual variations of ocean dynamical processes under daily wind forcings and seasonal heat fluxes. The mode water formation region was defined by a potential vorticity minimum at outcrop locations. The model results show that two subduction rate maxima (>100 m/a) were located in the Subtropical Mode Water (STMW) and the Central Mode Water (CMW) formation regions. These regions are consistent with a climatologically calculated value. The subduction rate in the Eastern Subtropical Mode Water (ESTMW) formation region was smaller at about 75 m/a. The subduction rate shows clear interannual and decadal variations associated with oceanic dynamic variabilities. The average subduction rate of the STMW was much smaller during the period of 1981–1990 compared with other periods, while that of the CMW had a negative anomaly before 1975 and a positive anomaly after 1978. The variability agreed with Ekman and geostrophic advections and mixed layer depths. The interannual variability of the subduction rate for the ESTMW was smallest during 1970–1990, as a result of a weak wind stress curl. This paper explores how interannual signals from the atmosphere are stored in different parts of the ocean, and thus may contribute to a better understanding of feedback mechanisms for the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) event.

Multi-year Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA) and National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) datasets were used to investigate the leading patterns of subsurface ocean temperature anomalies (SOTA) and the corresponding atmospheric circulation structure in the Pacific Ocean (20 degrees S-60 degrees N) In this paper, the evolution of North Pacific SOTA associated with El Nino-southern oscillation (ENSO), and their relationship with the overlying zonal/meridional atmospheric circulations were elucidated The results indicate that (1) there are two dominant modes for the interannual variability of the North Pacific SOTA The primary mode is the dipole pattern of the central and western North Pacific SOTA associated with the leading mode of ENSO, and the second mode is the zonal pattern related to the second mode of ENSO These two modes consist of the temporal-spatial variation of the SOTA in the North Pacific (2) During the developing phase of the El Nino event, positive (negative) SOTA appears in the western (central) portion of the North Pacific Ocean During the mature and decaying phase of the El Nino event, the western positive center and the central negative center continue to be maintained and enhanced Meanwhile, the position of the western positive center slightly changes, and the central negative center moves eastward slowly After the El Nino event vanishes, the positive SOTA disappears, and the central negative SOTA becomes weak and remains in the northeastern Pacific Ocean The results for La Nina are generally the opposite (3) During the El Nino/La Nina cycle, formation and evolution of the SOTA, with opposite signs in central and western North Pacific Ocean, resulted from vertical movement of the two northern branches of the Hadley Cell with opposite direction, as well as the positive feedback of the air-sea interaction induced by dynamic processes in the mid-latitudes The former gives rise to the initial SOTA, and the latter intensifies SOTA Under the forcing of these two processes, SOTA evolution is formed and sustained during the El Nino/La Nina events Also discussed herein as background for the ENSO cycle are the possible connections among the West Pacific subtropical high, the strength of the Kuroshio near the East China Sea, the Kuroshio meanders south of Japan, the Aleutian Low, and cold advection in the central North Pacific Ocean

Under suitable conditions of tidal current and wind, underwater topography can be detected by synthetic aperture radar (SAR) indirectly. Underwater topography SAR imaging includes three physical processes: radar ocean surface backscattering, the modulation of sea surface short wave spectrum by the variations in sea surface currents, and the modulation of sea surface currents by the underwater topography. The first process is described usually by Bragg scattering theory because the incident angle of SAR is always between 20°–70°. The second process is described by the action balance equation. The third process is described by an ocean hydrodynamic model. Based on the SAR imaging mechanism for underwater topography, an underwater topography SAR detection model and a simplified method for its calculation are introduced. In the detection model, a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model — the shallow water model is used to describe the motion of tidal current. Due to the difficulty of determining the expression of SAR backscattering cross section in which some terms can not be determined, the backscattering cross section of SAR image used in the underwater topography SAR detection is pro-processed by the simulated SAR image of the coarse-grid water depth to simplify the calculation. Taiwan Shoal, located at the southwest outlet of Taiwan Strait, is selected as an evaluation area for this technique due to the occurrence of hundreds of sand waves. The underwater topography of Taiwan Shoal was detected by two scenes of ERS-2 SAR images which were acquired on 9 January 2000 and 6 June 2004. The detection results are compared with in situ measured water depths for three profiles. The average absolute and relative errors of the best detection result are 2.23 m and 7.5 %, respectively. These show that the detection model and the simplified method introduced in the paper is feasible.

In this paper, we characterize the North Yellow Sea (NYS) water masses in summer by analyzing temperature and salinity data surveyed in 2006. The Liaonan Coastal Water is characterized by low salinity westward and southward flow paths. The westward path flows parallel to land, turns to the south, then to the southeast adjacent to the mouth of the Lushun River, where it mixes with other coastal water directly to the southwest. It becomes the main source of low salinity water in the deep water area west of 123°E. The high-salinity Lubei Coastal Water is the remnant of the winter Lubei Coastal Water, which is located mostly in a small area between Yantai and Weihai, and does not originate in the Bohai Sea Coastal Water. The two NYS zones demarcated at 123°E have distinctly different temperature and salinity characteristics. There are two high-salinity centers east of 123°E, whereas there is low-salinity water to the west whose temperature and salinity structures are complex, composed of the coastal water south of Chengshantou, the Liaonan Coastal Water and the Bohai Sea Water.

In this paper, we use the conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) observation data and a three-dimensional ocean model in a seasonally-varying forcing field to study the barrier layer (BL) in the PN section in the East China Sea (ECS). The BL can be found along the PN section with obviously seasonal variability. In winter, spring and autumn, the BL occurs around the slope where the cold shelf water meets with the warm Kuroshio water. In summer, the BL can also be found in the shelf area near salinity front of the Changjiang (Yangtze) River Dilution Water (YRDW). Seasonal variations of BL in the PN section are caused by local hydrological characteristics and seasonal variations of atmospheric forcing. Strong vertical convection caused by sea surface cooling thickens the BL in winter and spring in the slope area. Due to the large discharge of Changjiang River in summer, the BL occurs extensively in the shelf region where the fresh YRDW and the salty bottom water meet and form a strong halocline above the seasonal thermocline. The formation mechanism of BL in the PN section can be explained by the vertical shear of different water masses, which is called the advection mechanism. The interannual variation of BL in summer is greatly affected by the YRDW. In the larger YRDW year (such as 1998), a shallow but much thicker BL existed on the shelf area.

This paper introduces a new method for reconstructing three-dimensional (3D) coastal bathymetry changes from Airborne AIRSAR/POLSAR synthetic aperture data. The new method is based on integration between fuzzy B-spline and Volterra algorithm. Volterra algorithm is used to simulate the ocean surface current from AIRSAR/POLSAR data. Then, the ocean surface current information used as input for continuity equation to estimate the water depths from AIRSAR/POLSAR data. This study shows that 3D ocean bathymetry can be reconstructed from AIRSAR/POLSAR data with root mean square error of ±0.03 m.

Direct current observations in the Yellow Sea interior are very scarce due to intense fishing and trawling activities. Most previous studies on tides in the area were based on coastal measurements or satellite altimeter sea levels and have not been rigorously compared with direct measurements. In this paper, tidal currents are studied with current profiles from three bottom-moored Sontek Acoustic Doppler Profilers (ADPs) deployed in the southern Yellow Sea in summer of 2001 and 2003. The measured current series were dominated by tidal currents. Maximum velocities are between 40–80 cm/s at the mooring stations. M2 current is the most dominant primary tidal constituent, while MS4 and M4 are the most significant shallow water tides with much smaller amplitudes than the primary tides.

A new technique is introduced in this paper regarding red tide recognition with remotely sensed hyper-spectral images based on empirical mode decomposition (EMD), from an artificial red tide experiment in the East China Sea in 2002. A set of characteristic parameters that describe absorbing crest and reflecting crest of the red tide and its recognition methods are put forward based on general picture data, with which the spectral information of certain non-dominant alga species of a red tide occurrence is analyzed for establishing the foundation to estimate the species. Comparative experiments have proved that the method is effective. Meanwhile, the transitional area between red-tide zone and non-red-tide zone can be detected with the information of thickness of algae influence, with which a red tide can be forecast.

The thermal condition anomaly of the western Pacific warm pool and its zonal displacement have very important influences on climate change in East Asia and even the whole world. However, the impact of the zonal wind anomaly over the Pacific Ocean on zonal displacement of the warm pool has not yet been analyzed based on long-term record. Therefore, it is important to study the zonal displacement of the warm pool and its response to the zonal wind anomaly over the equatorial Pacific Ocean. Based on the NCDC monthly averaged SST (sea surface temperature) data in 2°×2° grid in the Pacific Ocean from 1950 to 2000, and the NCEP/NCAR global monthly averaged 850 hPa zonal wind data from 1949 to 2000, the relationships between zonal displacements of the western Pacific warm pool and zonal wind anomalies over the tropical Pacific Ocean are analyzed in this paper. The results show that the zonal displacements are closely related to the zonal wind anomalies over the western, central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. Composite analysis indicates that during ENSO events, the warm pool displacement was trigged by the zonal wind anomalies over the western equatorial Pacific Ocean in early stage and the process proceeded under the zonal wind anomalies over the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean unless the wind direction changes. Therefore, in addition to the zonal wind anomaly over the western Pacific, the zonal wind anomalies over the central and eastern Pacific Ocean should be considered also in investigation the dynamical mechanisms of the zonal displacement of the warm pool.

A large number of autonomous profiling floats deployed in global oceans have provided abundant temperature and salinity profiles of the upper ocean. Many floats occasionally profile observations during the passage of tropical cyclones. These in-situ observations are valuable and useful in studying the ocean’s response to tropical cyclones, which are rarely observed due to harsh weather conditions. In this paper, the upper ocean response to the tropical cyclones in the northwestern Pacific during 2000–2005 is analyzed and discussed based on the data from Argo profiling floats. Results suggest that the passage of tropical cyclones caused the deepening of mixed layer depth (MLD), cooling of mixed layer temperature (MLT), and freshening of mixed layer salinity (MLS). The change in MLT is negatively correlated to wind speed. The cooling of the MLT extended for 50–150 km on the right side of the cyclone track. The change of MLS is almost symmetrical in distribution on both sides of the track, and the change of MLD is negatively correlated to pre-cyclone initial MLD.

A dataset of drifting buoys from the Marine Environmental Data Service of Canada was analyzed to map surface circulation of the Pacific. More information of the surface circulation than that acquired before was reported in this paper, showing clear and strong western boundary currents, equatorial currents, and subtropical gyres in the North and South Pacific regions in velocity field, with a more systematic structure in the North Pacific.

Bottom temperature variation (BTV) is a serious problem in determining the thermal gradient and heart flow of the sediments in shallow seas. The water depth of the East China Sea shelf is mostly below 150m, and the heat flow measurement is strongly affected by BTV. Following a statistical algorithm, we rechecked the temperature and thermal conductivity data of the cruises KX90-1 and KX91-1, carried out by a cooperation program of China and Japan, and calculate the heat flow in a site without long-term temperature record. The calculated heat flow in the site was 58.6±3.6 mW/m2, being just within the range of the drill heat flow value of East China Sea shelf. The inversed amplitude spectrum of BTV has a peak in frequency of 1/10 per year, and the annual component is also an important part. Comparison with two lakes of Lake Greifensee and Lac Leman (i.e. Lake Geneva), which are in different water depth, revealed that with increasing water depth, the peak of amplitude spectrum moved towards low frequency components. The heat flow values calculated in this paper and from petroleum bore hole in East China Sea shelf are much more close to that in southeast China than in Okinawa Trough.

Using a 23-year database consisting of sea level pressure, surface air temperature and sea surface temperature, the authors studied southern high latitude climate anomalies associated with IOD (Indian Ocean Dipole). Correlation analysis of the spatial variability regarding monthly sea level pressure, surface air temperature, and sea surface temperature anomalies with IOD index suggests that IOD signal exists in southern high latitudes. The correlation fields exhibit a wavenumber-3 pattern around the circumpolar Southern Ocean. Lead-lag correlation analysis on the strongest correlation areas with IOD index shows that IOD in the tropical Indian Ocean responses to the southern high latitude climate almost instantaneously. It is proposed in the present paper that this connection is realized through atmospheric propagation rather than through oceanic one.

Altimeter wave period data obtained from continental shelf seas are analyzed in this paper. Empirical models are introduced for zero up-crossing and peak wave period calculation with TOPEX/POSEIDON data. Their performances are assessed using independent validation dataset in four sites in the open ocean of China. To provide more accurate wave period estimation, new coefficients are applied to reliablein situ data. Comparison of our estimated the wave periods with new linear calibrations based on independent data of Seapac 2100 deployed in the East China Sea and South China Sea showed that the accuracy was improved over estimates determined from earlier empirical models. Regional analysis indicated that the wave period model works better under wind sea condition.

Two wind algorithms of ENVISAT advanced synthetic aperture radar (ASAR), i. e. CMOD4 model from the European Space Agency (ESA) and CMOD_IFR2 model from Quilfen et al., are compared in this paper. The wind direction is estimated from orientation of low and linear signatures in the ASAR imagery. The wind direction has inherently a 1801 ambiguity since only a single ASAR image is used. The 1801 ambiguity is eliminated by using the buoy data from the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) buoys moored in the Pacific. Wind speed is obtained with the two wind algorithms using both estimated wind direction and normalized radar cross section (NRCS). The retrieved wind results agree well with the data from Quikscat. The root mean square error (RMSE) of wind direction is 2.801. The RMSEs of wind speed from CMOD4 model and CMOD_IFR2 model are 1.09 m/s and 0.60 m/s respectively. The results indicate that the CMOD_IFR2 model is slight better than CMOD4 model at high wind.

To study the variations in surface hydrography and circulation in northern South China Sea (NSCS), rotated empirical orthogonal function (REOF) and extended associate pattern analysis (EAPA) are used with daily sea surface salinity (SSS), sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface height (SSH) datasets covering 1 126 days from American Navy Experimental Real-Time East Asian Seas Ocean Nowcast System in this paper. Results show that in summer, the SCS Diluted Water Expansion (SDWE) is the most dominant factor controlling SSS variations in the NSCS. The remarkable SDWE usually begins in early July, reaches its maximum in middle August and weakens in late September. In summer fluorishing period, its low saline core is just limited between 21°N and 22°N because of strong surface anomalous anticyclonic circulation in the NSCS. In early or late stage, the anomalous anticyclonic circulation becomes weak or turns into cyclonic one, thus the weak SCS diluted water can disperse. And its influence on the SSS variations has obviously decreased. The Kuroshio intrusion is the second controlling factor, and it has the almost opposite seasonal or intraseasonal oscillations and spatial characteristics to the SDWE. Winter Kuroshio Intrusion (WKI) begins in early November and lasts about three months. Intraseasonal Kuroshio Intrusion (IKI) takes place at any seasons. The westward Ekman transport produced by the north anomaly of East Asia Monsoon (EAM) pushes warmer and more saline seawater into the NSCS through the Bashi Strait and seems to decide the intensity of seasonal and intraseasonal Kuroshio intrusions.

In this paper, the authors used the Princeton Ocean Model (POM) to simulate the seasonal evolutions of circulation and thermal structure in the Yellow Sea. The simulated circulation showed that the Yellow Sea Warm Current (YSWC) was a compensation current of monsoon-driven current, and that in winter, the YSWC became stronger with depth, and could flow across the Bohai Strait in the north. Sensitivity and controlling tests led to the following conclusions. In winter, the direction of the Yellow Sea Coastal Current in the surface layer was controlled partly by tide instead of wind. In summer, a cyclonic horizontal gyre existed in the middle and eastern parts of the Yellow Sea below 10 m. The downwelling in upper layer and upwelling in lower layer were somehow similar to Hu et al. (1991) conceptual model. The calculated thermal structure showed an obvious northward extending YSWC tongue in winter, its position and coverage of the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass in summer.

In this paper, on the basis of the working principles of high frequency ground wave radar for retrieval of ocean wave and sea wind elements were used to systematically study the data obtained from contrast validation test in Zhoushan sea area of Zhejiang Province on Oct. 2000, to validate the accuracy of OSMAR2000 for wave and wind parameters, and to analyze the possible error caused when using OSMAR2000 to retrieve ocean parameters.

Heat flow studies in Northwest Pacific marginal seas has a more than 40 years history with more than 4000 heat flow values obtained. The regional average value is 80.4 mW/m2, which is lower than the world's 87 mW/m2, but higher than those of the Eurasia continent and the Pacific Ocean. This reflects the regional crust property in the area. The studies on distribution of the heat flow and contour pattern of heat flow in 1°×1° and 2°×2° scales in Northwest Pacific marginal seas revealed that the most high heat flow anomalies in the area were found along back-are basins and island are in an obviously northeasterly track. Exceptions are the Komandoskaya Basin (KMB), the Izu-Bonin Trough (IBT) and the Mariana Trough (MT), which extend in northwest. The contours of low heat flow marked the boundaries of the continent and the ocean. The present heat flow values reflect the imprint of the last thermal event and relate closely to tectonic activity. The high heat flow gradient areas have high frequency of earthquake. Therefore, the area of faulting controlled the pattern of the heat flow anomalies. Heat flow gradient in 135° direction indicated a major lithosphere transformation oceanward resulting from movement of the earth's material. In this paper, we described patterns of heat flow distribution in the Northwest Pacific, heat flow value changes in horizontal and vertical directions, combining the studies of Shi (1997) on the landforms of the island ares in east Asia and plate movement, and the results of Shi and Zhang (1998) on heat simulation of subduction of active ocean mountain and the activity of islands are. A preliminary model of geodynamics in the Northwest Pacific and its adjacent area was put forward. There is a great lateral heat flow gradient on the surface of the mantle between ocean and continent, which indicates that the materials in asthenosphere move from continent to ocean causing movement of the crust.

To study the seasonality and causes of the Yellow Sea Warm Current (YSWC) in detail, rotated empirical orthogonal function (REOF) and extended associate pattern analysis are adopted with daily sea surface salinity (SSS), sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface height (SSH) datasets covering 1126 days from American Navy Experimental Real-Time East Asian Seas Ocean Nowcast System in the present paper. Results show that in the Yellow and East China Seas, the YSWC is a mean barotropic flow as compensation of winter-monsoon-driven surface currents, which has been directly observed. When East Asia winter monsoon weakens, so do the meridional pressure gradient of the surface seawater and the YSWC, while the transversal pressure gradient changes rather slowly that results in the YSWC left turning. In addition, there is southward mean flow compensation of summer-monsoon-driven surface currents, which actually was also directly observed.

The circulations off the Changjiang mouth in May and November were simulated by a three dimension numerical model with monthly averaged parameters of dynamic factors in this paper. The area covers the East China Sea (ECS), Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea. Simulated results show that the circulation off the Changjiang mouth in spring and autumn is mainly the Changjiang runoff and Taiwan Warm Current (TWC). The Changjiang discharge is much larger in May than in November, and the wind is westward in May, and southward in November off the Changjiang mouth. The runoff in May branches in three parts, one eastward flows, the other two flow northward and southward along the Subei and Zhejiang coast respectively. The Changjiang diluted water expands eastward off the mouth, and forms a strong salinity front near the mouth. Surface circulation in autumn is similar to that in winter, the runoff southward flows along the coast, and the northward flowing TWC becomes weaker compared to that in spring and summer. The bottom circulations in May and November are mainly the runoff near the mouth and the TWC off the mouth, and the runoff and TWC are greater in May than in November.

This paper presents a method developed for estimating wave height from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery with-out prior assumption of noise distribution. It is based on two-dimensional ocean wave spectra retrieved from fully calibrated SAR images. Wen’s spectrum was used as first-guess wave spectrum in the retrieval process. Comparison of the estimated wave height obtained by this method from two ERS-1 SAR subimages dated 23 July 1994 with in-situ measurements showed that the method works well.

This paper presents the results of determining trace elements and σ13C, σ18O inGyraulus sibirica shell continuously preserved in Xingcuo Lake sediments in the recent 50 years. By coupling these indexes and instrumental meteorological data on its basin to determine the relations among them, we probed quantitatively the climatic signals recorded in Xingcuo Lake sediments. The results showed that gastropod shells in Xingcuo Lake were formed in warm seasons; that trace elements, and stable isotope in shells just recorded the climatic signals of the warm seasons instead of that of the whole year; that Mg/Ca ratio and σ18 proxy had certain correlation with air temperature in warm seasons, when the σ18 proxy was more sensitive; with the average ratio of them being 0.28×10−3/1C and the variation rate dσ18O/dT being 1.64×10−3/1C; that the Sr/Ca ratio and σ13C proxy, especially Sr/Ca ratio, had close correlation; and that dSr/Ca/dP was −0.045/mm.

Herein we would like to comment on the paper “Estimation of potential distribution of gas hydrate in the northern South China Sea” by Wang et al. 2010 in Chinese Journal of Oceanology and Limnology, 28(3): 693–699. The purpose of this comment is to point out that the given probabilities of gas hydrate occurrence in the northern Zhujiang Mouth Basin and the Yinggehai Basin in the figure of Wang et al. (2010) are improper. After introducing our work of estimation of gas hydrate stability distribution in the northern South China Sea, we suggest that Wang et al. (2010) dismissed the basic P-T rule for the existence of gas hydrate. They should consider more the variables of water depth, seabed temperature and geothermal gradient in their gas hydrate distribution model in future studies.

Vertical profiles of sound speed in the sea can be measured by using laser excited Brillouin scattering. In this paper the dependence of the accuracy of sound speed measurement on the accuracy of the Brillouin shift measurement is analyzed. We calculated the maximum detecting depths of sound speed to an accuracy of 1 m/s by lidar with different laser pulse energy, platform altitude, telescope aperture and lidar effective attenuation coefficient. The estimation of sounding ability in the East China Sea is made in some stations. These data can be used in the design of Brillouin Lidar for the China Sea.

Remote sensing and in situ observations of internal tides, solitary waves and bores in shallow water are briefly reviewed in this paper. The emphasis is laid on interpreting SAR images based on oceanographic measurements, and analyzing characteristics of internal waves in the China Seas. Directions for future research are discussed.

In this paper, the linear continuously tratified model of the abyssal circulation proposed by Pedlosky (1992) was extended to include the second order term -(γθzzz) in the vertical turbulent mixing parameterization of\( - \overline {(w\prime \theta \prime )} _z = k_u \theta _{zz} - \gamma \theta _{zzz} \), in whichkv is a vertical diffusion coefficient, and γ is the second order coefficient of turbulent mixing (or simply called γ-term and γ

This paper presents the following data-based hypothesis on the mechanism of the EI Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle: during the warm phase of ENSO, there are weterly wind anomalies over the equatorial west-central Pacific and the sea surface temperature (SST) in the equatorial east-central Pacific is higher. The latter can strengthen Hadley circulation, and the west component of the Hadley circulation anomaly may cause southerly monsoon circulation. When the monsoon is a southerly anomaly, SST in the South China Sea (SCS) becomes higher. When the SCS gets warmer, the atmospheric convection will move to it, and then easterly anomaly wind will occur over the western Pacific. A cycle is completed. This hypothesis was used to construct an analogical oscillator model that produces ENSO-like oscillations. The negative feedback mechanism of the hypothesis is SST anomaly in the SCS. This negative feedback mechanism is quite different from others proposed before, is not within the Pacific and does not depend on ocean waves and their boundary reflection.

Ventilation or water exchange between the subtropical and tropic Pacific is studied with a simple none-thermodynamic two-and-half layer model. The shallow upper layer is assumed to communicate with its lower counterpart by entrainment and detrainment at ratesWe andWd. Trenberth wind stress data (Trenberth Data Center, 1995) are chosen to drive the upper moving ocean to obtain a stable state. The results show that the subtropical and tropic Pacific exchange water in two ways. One is the direct exchanging by which the surface water in the mid-latitude goes down and moves to the tropical region in the subsurface layer and upwells back to the Ekman layer and finally moves northward to complete its journey; and the other is the way of detour, by which water in the subtropical Pacific moves first to the western boundary region along geostrophic flow contours and goes down to the tropic region as southward boundary currents. These two ways contribute almost the same amount to the water exchange between the subtropical and tropic Pacific gyres although the spatial scale in the latter is ten times greater than that of the former. LPS's (Luyten et al., 1983) ventilation theory is reviewed to give a clear picture of how the water exchange in large scale has been studied and the numerical results in this paper are compared with both the conclusions of such analysis theory and some previous observation (tritium survey) reports.

This paper delineates the coupled and principal patterns of sea surface temperature (SST) and surface wind near the South China Sea (SCS), and discusses the mechanisms of air-sea coupling near the SCS and their association with the Asian monsoon. Singular value decomposition (SVD) and single field principal component analysis (PCA) are applied to the SST and wind anomalies from the 1979–1995 NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data.

The start depth in gravity anomaly inversion is discussed in this paper, and a new method called “test comparing method” is presented to determine the start depth when both boring data and seismic data are not available. Anticline and syncline density interface models are designed to test the method; the calculated result agreed well with the designed value, which proved that the new method can be used to determine the start depth in the gravity anomaly inversion when boring data and seismic data are not available.