Geological records of marine environmental changes in the southern Okinawa Trough

Indexes of sediment grain size, sedimentation rates, geochemical composition, heavy minerals, benthic foraminiferal fauna, indicator species of the Kuroshio Current, paleo-SST and carbonate dissolution of core E017 conformably suggest a great marine environmental change occurring at about 10.1-9.2 cal. kaBP in the southern Okinawa Trough, which may correspond to the strengthening of the Kuroshio Warm Current and re-entering the Okinawa Trough through the sea area off northeast Taiwan. The invasion of Kuroshio current has experienced a process of gradual strengthening and then weakening, and its intensity became more fluctuation during the last 5000 years. Compared to the transition of sediment grain size, geochemical composition and heavy minerals, the foraminiferal faunas show a 900-year lag, which may indicate that the invasion of Kuroshio Current and the consequent sea surface and deep-water environmental changes is a gradual process, and fauna has an obvious lag compared to environment altering. The carbonate dissolution of the Okinawa Trough has had an apparent strengthening since 9.2 cal. kaBP, and reached a maximum in the late 3000 years, which may be caused by the deep-water environmental changes due to the invasion of Kuroshio Current.

A broad deglacial delta C-13 minimum event in planktonic foraminiferal records in the Okinawa Trough

The equatorial Pacific upwelling zone has been suspected of playing an important role in the global atmospheric CO2 changes associated with glacial-interglacial cycles. In order to assess the influencing scope of the surface water deglacial delta(13)C minimum in the tropical low-latitude Pacific, the core DGKS9603, collected from the middle Okinawa Trough, was examined for 4513 C records of planktonic foraminifera N. dutertrei and G. ruber. The planktonic foraminiferal delta(13)C records show a clear decreasing event from 20 to 6 cal. kaBP., which is characterized by long duration of about 14 ka and amplitude shift of 0.4 x 10(-3). Its minimum value occurred at 15.7 cal kaBP. The event shows fairly synchrony with the surface water deglacial delta(13)C minimum identified in the tropical Pacific and its marginal seas. Because there is no evidence in planktonic foraminiferal fauna and 45180 records for upwelling and river runoff enhancement, the broad deglacial delta(13)C minimum event in planktonic foraminiferal records revealed in core DGKS9603 might have been the direct influencing result of the deglacial surface water of the tropical Pacific. The identification for the event in the Okinawa Trough provides new evidence that the water evolution in the tropical low-latitude Pacific plays a key role in large regional, even global carbon cycle.

PALEOMONSOONS OF CHINA OVER THE LAST 130,000 YEARS - PALEOMONSOON RECORDS

The characteristics of the modern monsoon climate of China may be used as clues for recognizing the records of paleomonsoon climate. The present paper deals primarily with the various paleomonsoon records of the last 130,000 years in the southeast monsoon area. These records mainly come from the following three fields: (i) the historical, (ii) the geological, including loess-paleosol sequence, deserts, lakes, snowlines, timberlines, the phenomena of continental desertization and so on, and (iii) the biological, presented by vegetation a.d mammals. Among these records, the loess-paleosol sequence in the Loess Plateau reflects a climatic history characterized by alternation of two different climatic periods when the Asian winter monsoon and summer monsoon showed pronounced effects on environment, respectively.

Development of the East Asian monsoon: Mineralogical and sedimentologic records in the northern South China Sea since 20 Ma

We here reconstruct the past change of the East Asian monsoon since 20 Ma using samples from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1146 in the northern South China Sea based On a multi-proxy approach including a monomineralic quartz isolation procedure, identification of clay minerals by X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and grain-size analysis of isolated terrigenous materials. Terrigenous supply to ODP Site 1146 was dominated by changes in the strength of multiple sources and transport processes. Grain-size data modeled by an end-member modeling algorithm indicate that eolian dust from the and Asian inland and fluvial input have contributed on average 20% and 80% of total terrigenous material to ODP Site 1146, respectively. Specifically, about 40-53% of the total (quartz+feldspar) and only 6-11% of the total clay is related to eolian supply at the study site. Detailed analysis of the sedimentary environment, and clay minerals combined with previous studies shows that smectite originates mainly from Luzon, kaolinite from the Pearl River and illite and chlorite from the Pearl River, Taiwan and/or the Yangtze River. The proportion and mass accumulation rate (MAR) of the coarsest end-member EM1 (interpreted as eolian dust), ratios of (illite+chlorite)/smectite, (quartz+feldspar)% and mean grain-size of terrigenous materials at ODP Site 1146 were adopted as proxies for East Asian monsoon evolution. The consistent variation of these independent proxies since 20 Ma shows three profound shifts in the intensity of East Asian winter monsoon relative to summer monsoon, as well as aridity of the Asian continent, occurred at similar to 15 Ma, similar to 8 Ma and the youngest at about 3 Ma. In comparison, the summer monsoon intensified contemporaneously with the winter monsoon at 3 Ma. The phased uplift of the Himalaya-Tibetan plateau may have played a significant role in strengthening the Asian monsoon at similar to 15 Ma, 8 Ma and 3 Ma. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Grain-size records at ODP site 1146 from the northern South China sea: Implications on the east Asian monsoon evolution since 20 Ma

273 samples from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1146 in the northern South China Sea (SCS) were analyzed for grain-size distributions using grain-size class vs. standard deviation method and end-member modeling algorithm (EMMA) in order to investigate the evolution of the East Asian mon-soon since about 20 Ma. 10-19 mu m/1.3-2.4 mu m, the ratio of two grain-size populations with the highest variability through time was used to indicate East Asian winter monsoon intensity relative to summer monsoon. The mass accumulation rate of the coarsest end member EM1 (eolian), resulting from EMMA, can be used as a proxy of winter monsoon strength and Asian inland aridity, and the ratio of EM1/(EM2+EM3) as a proxy of winter monsoon intensity relative to summer monsoon. The combined proxies show that a profound enhancement of East Asian winter monsoon strength and winter monsoon intensity relative to summer monsoon occurred at about 8 Ma, and it is possible that the summer monsoon simultaneously intensified with winter monsoon at 3 Ma. Our results are well consistent with the previous studies in loess, eolian deposion in the Pacifc, radiolarians and planktonic foraminifera in the SCS. The phased uplift of the Himalaya-Tibetan Plateau may have played a significant role in strengthening the Asian monsoon at 8 Ma and 3 Ma.

Evolution and variability of the East Asian summer monsoon during the Pliocene: Evidence from clay mineral records of the South China Sea

The Late Pliocene is thought to be characterized by the simultaneous intensification of both the East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) and East Asian summer monsoon (EASM). However, the evolution of the EASM during the Pliocene remains still controversial and only little is known about the dynamics of the EASM during the Pliocene on orbital time scales. Here we use clay mineral assemblages in sediments from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1143 in the southern South China Sea (SCS) to obtain proxy records of past changes in the EASM climate during the Pliocene. Provenance analysis suggests that illite, chlorite and kaolinite originated mainly from the Mekong River drainage area. Smectite was derived mainly from the Indonesian islands. The kaolinite/illite ratio and the chemical index of alteration (CIA) of siliciclastic sediments allowed us to reconstruct the history of chemical weathering and physical erosion of the Mekong River drainage area and thus, the evolution of,the EASM during the Pliocene. Our clay minerals proxy data suggests a stronger EASM during the Early Pliocene than during the Late Pliocene. We propose that the long-term evolution of the EASM has been driven by global cooling rather than the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau. Spectral analysis of kaolinite/ illite ratio displays a set of strong periodicities at 100 ka, 30 ka, 28 ka, 25 ka, and 22 ka. with no clear obliquityrelated signal. Our study suggests that the Pliocene EASM intensity on orbital time scales is not only controlled by the Northern Hemisphere summer insolation, but also strongly influenced by equatorial Pacific ENSO-like ocean atmosphere dynamics. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Records of the East Asian winter monsoon from the mud area on the inner shelf of the East China Sea since the mid-Holocene

AMS(14)C dating and analysis of grain size, major elements and clay minerals were applied to Core MZ01 from the mud area on the inner shelf of the East China Sea. Based on the environmentally sensitive grain size, clay mineral and major element assemblages, the history of the East Asia winter monsoon since the mid-Holocene could be reconstructed. These three proxies, mean grain size (>9.71 mu m), chemical index of alteration (CIA) and ratio of smectite to kaolinite in particular, show similar fluctuation patterns. Furthermore, 10 extreme values corresponding to the contemporary cooling events could be recognized since the mid-Holocene; these extreme values are likely to have been caused by the strengthening of the East Asia winter monsoon. The cooling events correlated well with the results of the delta O-18 curves of the Dunde ice core and GISP2, which therefore revealed a regional response to global climate change. Four stages of the East Asia winter monsoon were identified, i.e. 8300-6300 a BP, strong and unstable; 6300-3800 a BP, strong but stable; 3800-1400 a BP, weak and unstable; after 1400 a BP, weak but stable.

Geochemieal records of phosphorus in Jiaozhou Bay sediments - Implications for environmental changes in recent hundred years

Phosphorus is a key element and plays an important role in global biogeochemical cycles. The evolution of sedimentary environment is also influenced by phosphorus concentrations and fractions as well as phosphate sorption characteristics of the marine sediments. The geochemical characteristics of phosphorus and their environmental records were presented in Jiaozhou Bay sediments. Profiles of different forms of phosphorus were measured as well as the roles and vertical distributions of phosphorus forms in response to sedimentary environment changes were investigated. The results showed that inorganic phosphorus ( IP) was the major fraction of total phosphorus ( TP); phosphorus which is bound to calcium, iron and occluded phosphorus, as well as the exchangeable phosphorus were the main forms of IP, especially calcium-phosphorus, including detrital carbonate-bound phosphorus ( Det - P) and authigenic apatite-bound phosphorus ( ACa - P), are the uppermost constituent of IP in Jiaozhou Bay sediments. Moreover, the lead-210 chronology technology was employed to estimate how much phosphorus was buried ultimately in sediments. And the research showed that the impacts of human activities have increased remarkably in recent years especially between the 1980s and 2000. According to research, the development of Jiaozhou Bay environment in the past hundred years can be divided into three stages; (I) before the 1980s characterized by the relatively low sedimentation rate, weak land-derived phosphorus inputs and low anthropogenic impacts; (2) from the 1980s to around 2000, accelerating in the 1990s, during which high sedimentation rates, high phosphorus abundance and burial fluxes due to the severe: human activities impacted on the whole environmental system; (3) after 2000, the period of the improvement of environment, the whole system has been improved including the decreasing sedimentation rates, concentration and the burial fluxes of phosphonas.

New records of Paraprionospio (Annelida: Spionidae) from Chinese waters, with the description of a new species

Paraprionospio pinnata (Ehlers, 1901), a poorly known and potentially cosmopolitan polychaete, was examined from museum specimens and from collections in Jiaozhou Bay, the Yellow Sea. New observations indicate that previous Chinese records of P. pinnata are doubtful, and that Chinese waters contain at least three valid species of Paraprionospio, two are known and one is new. Paraprionospio inaequibranchia (Caullery, 1914) and Paraprionospio coora Wilson, 1990, previously misidentified as P. pinnata, are reported from Chinese waters for the first time. Paraprionospio crist'ata. new species, is characterized by having brown pigment patches on the prostomium, ventral crests on chaetigers 9 and 10, dorsal crests on the middle part of the body (from chaetigers 21-23, not beyond chaetiger 29). thin filaments on chaetiger 3, and bifoliate branchial lamellae.

Cancer Risk Assessment Related to Anatomical Tissue Types

H. Strange, W. He, E. Denton and R. Zwiggelaar, 'Cancer Risk Assessment Related to Anatomical Tissue Types', Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual Conference on Medical Image Understanding and Analysis, 2008, p.138. Sponsorship: EPSRC

Last letters & further records of martyred missionaries of the China Inland Mission / edited by Marshall Broomhall.

http://www.archive.org/details/lastlettersfurth00unknuoft

Khirbet et-Tannur Excavation Records

The Khirbet et-Tannur Excavation Records document the 1938 excavation of a Nabataean temple. The excavation was directed by Nelson Glueck. The collection includes level books, excavation diaries, artifacts, and photographs. The collection is being processed. A finding aid for the document portion of the collection is available.