Paleoenvironment evolution of the East Philippine Sea recorded in the new-type ferromanganese crust since the terminal Late Miocene

From systemic research of microstructure, geochemistry, uranium-series and Be-10 isotope dating on a new-type deepwater ferromanganese crust from the East Philippine Sea, the paleoenvironment evolution of the target area since the terminal Late Miocene was recovered. The vertical section changes of microstructure and chemical composition are consistent in the studied crust, which indicate three major accretion periods and corresponding paleoenvironment evolution of the crust. The bottom crust zone was formed in the terminal Late Miocene (5.6 Ma) with loose microstructure, high detritus content and high growth rate. Reductions of mineral element content, accretion rate and positive Ce-anomaly degree at 4.6 Ma indicate temporal warming, which went against the crust accretion and finally formed an accretion gap in the terminal Middle Pliocene (2.8-2.7 Ma). The more active Antarctic bottom seawaters in the Late Pliocene (2.7 Ma) facilitated the fast transfer to the top pure crust zone. Hereafter, with the further apart of volcanic source and the keeping increase of eolian material (1.0 Ma), although surrounding conditions were still favorable, mineral element content still shows an obvious reducing trend. It thereby offers new carrier and data for the unclear paleoceanographic research of the target area since the terminal Late Miocene.

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.

Development of the East Asian summer monsoon: Evidence from the sediment record in the South China Sea since 8.5 Ma

128 samples from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1143 in the southern South China Sea were analyzed for grain size, clay minerals, biogenic opal content and quartz in order to reconstruct changes in East Asian monsoon climate since 8.5 Ma. An abrupt change of terrigenous mass accumulation rate (MAR), clay mineral assemblage, median grain size and biogenic opal MAR about 5.2 Ma suggests that between 8.5-5.2 Ma the source of terrigenous sediment was mainly in the region of surface uplift and basaltic volcanism in southern Vietnam. A simple model of East Asian summer monsoon evolution was based on the clay/feldspar ratio, kaolinite/chlorite ratio and biogenic opal MAR. The summer monsoon has two periods of maximum strength at 8.5-7.6 Ma and 7.1-6.2 Ma. Subsequently, there was a relatively stable period at 6.2-3.5 Ma, continued intensification about 3.5-2.5 Ma, and gradually weakening after 2.5 Ma. Since I Ma the monsoon has intensified, with remarkable high-frequency and amplitude variability. Simultaneous increase in sedimentation rates at ODP Sites 1143, 1146 and 1148, as well as in MAR of terrigenous materials, quartz, feldspar and clay minerals at ODP Site 1143 at 3.5-2.5 Ma, may be the erosional response to both global climatic deterioration and the strengthening of the East Asian summer monsoon after about 3-4 Ma. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Interbasin freshwater, heat and salt transport through the boundaries of the East and South China Seas from a variable-grid global ocean circulation model

The monthly and annual mean freshwater, heat and salt transport through the open boundaries of the South and East China Seas derived from a variable-grid global ocean circulation model is reported. The model has 1/6degrees resolution for the seas adjacent to China and 30 resolution for the global ocean. The model results are in fairly good agreement with the existing estimates based on measurements. The computation shows that the flows passing through the South China Sea contribute volume, heat and salt transport of 5.3 Sv, 0.57 PW and 184 Ggs(-1), respectively (about 1/4) to the Indonesian Throughflow, indicating that the South China Sea is an important pathway of the Pacific to Indian Ocean throughflow. The volume, heat and salt transport of the Kuroshio in the East China Sea is 25.6 Sv, 2.32 PW and 894 Ggs(-1), respectively. Less than 1/4 of this transport passes through the passage between Iriomote and Okinawa. The calculation of heat balance indicates that the South China Sea absorbs net heat flux from the sun and atmosphere with a rate of 0.08 PW, while the atmosphere gains net heat flux from the Baohai, Yellow and East China Seas with a rate of 0.05 PW.

The island empire of the East : being a short history of Japan and missionary work therein with special reference to the mission of the M.S.C.C. / by Rev. J. Cooper Robinson ; with an introduction by the lord bishop of Algoma.

http://www.archive.org/details/theislandempire00robiuoft

Megalithic Cultures in Britain and their relationship to Western Europe.:Meeting on Megalithic Culture. Comparing Prehistoric ruins of the East and Europe,

H. Kanaseki, Editor. 2003, UNESCO-Cultural Heritage Protection Office: Horen-Cho, Nara.

Nieuwe paskaart voor een gedeelte van de Oost-Zee = Nouvelle carte hydrographique d'une partie de la Mer Baltique = Nya pass cort öfwer yen dehl af Oster-Siöön = The new sea map of the second of the East-Sea

Sisältää myös kartakkeet: Pastkaartje van de Noord Bodem, Suomenlahden itäosa ja Laatokka

Nieuwe paskaart voor een gedeelte van de Oost-Zee = Nouvelle carte hydrographique d'une partie de la Mer Baltique = Nya pass cort öfwer yen dehl af Oster-Siöön = The new sea map of the second of the East-Sea

Sisältää myös kartakkeet: Pastkaartje van de Noord Bodem, Suomenlahden itäosa ja Laatokka

Temporal variation in the coral reefs of the east coast of the inner gulf of Thailand

A series of permanent line transects established on fourteen reefs on the eastern seaboard of the Gulf of Thailand were monitored through a three-year period (1995- 1998) using a video transect method. Hierarchical cluster analysis shows three distinctive reef community types dominated by 1) Porites, 2) Acropora and 3) zoantharians. The reefs are developed under naturally turbid conditions and relatively low salinity due to the proximity of four major river outlets located in the uppermost area of the gulf. The number of Acroporid species on the reefs is positively correlated with distance from the major flver outlets. Eighty-seven species of scleractinian coral were found on the transects. Over the three-year period, the comparison of 1995-97-98 matched stations using Repeated Measures ANOV A reveals no significant time-dependent change in percent area cover of reef components except for an overall significant reduction in the faviid coral component. In the 1997-98 matched station comparison, statistical tests reveal significant increases in both Acropora and Porites components that translated into an overall increase in total living coral cover. These findings indicate that the overall environmental conditions have been favorable for coral growth. Outcompetition of massive corals by faster growing corals on several reefs also indicates conditions favorable for reef expansion. Growth of newlyformed Porites colonies over primary rock substrate and dead coral skeleton was presumably responsible for its rapid increase. Although these reefs are in an area of rapid industrialization and population growth, resultant anthropogenic effects have not yet stopped active coral accretion.

The Rise and Decline of the East German Economy, 1949-1989.

Why do some organizations decline while other do not? to study this issue , we introduce technological change into a theory of agency proposed by Laffont and Tirole. We show that the optimal organizational form for production depends on the estent of scale ecoomies and on the cost of monitoring workers. When the discrepancy between ideal and actual forms becomes too great, an organization's viability is threatened. We test this structuralist hypothesis for East and west Gemany over the 1949-1989 period. east Germany's relative decline is explained by an institutional structure the proved incompatible with technological change favoring smaller, flatter organizations.

On the long-term interannual variability of the east Asian winter monsoon

The East Asian Winter Monsoon (EAWM) and Siberian High (SH) are inherently related, based on prior studies of instrumental data available for recent decades (since 1958). Here we develop an extended instrumental EAWM index since 1871 that correlates significantly with the SH. These two indices show common modes of variation on the biennial (2-3 year) time scale. We also develop an index of the pressure gradient between the SH and the Aleutian Low, a gradient which critically impacts EAWM variability. This difference series, based on tree-ring reconstructions of the SH and the North Pacific Index (NPI) over the past 400 years, shows that the weakening of this gradient in recent decades has not been unusual in a long-term context. Correlations between the SH series and a tree-ring reconstruction of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) suggest a variable tropical-higher latitude teleconnection.

The meteorology of the Western Indian Ocean, and the influence of the east African highlands

This paper reviews the meteorology of the Western Indian Ocean and uses a state–of–the–art atmospheric general circulation model to investigate the influence of the East African Highlands on the climate of the Indian Ocean and its surrounding regions. The new 44–year re–analysis produced by the European Centre for Medium range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) has been used to construct a new climatology of the Western Indian Ocean. A brief overview of the seasonal cycle of the Western Indian Ocean is presented which emphasizes the importance of the geography of the Indian Ocean basin for controlling the meteorology of the Western Indian Ocean. The principal modes of inter–annual variability are described, associated with El Niño and the Indian Ocean Dipole or Zonal Mode, and the basic characteristics of the subseasonal weather over the Western Indian Ocean are presented, including new statistics on cyclone tracks derived from the ECMWF re–analyses. Sensitivity experiments, in which the orographic effects of East Africa are removed, have shown that the East African Highlands, although not very high, play a significant role in the climate of Africa, India and Southeast Asia, and in the heat, salinity and momentum forcing of the Western Indian Ocean. The hydrological cycle over Africa is systematically enhanced in all seasons by the presence of the East African Highlands, and during the Asian summer monsoon there is a major redistribution of the rainfall across India and Southeast Asia. The implied impact of the East African Highlands on the ocean is substantial. The East African Highlands systematically freshen the tropical Indian Ocean, and act to focus the monsoon winds along the coast, leading to greater upwelling and cooler sea–surface temperatures.