Meridional Variation of the 1955-2003 Sea Level Anomalies in the Tropical Pacific Ocean Associated with El Nio Events

The Sea Level Anomaly-Torque (SLAT, relative to a reference location in the Pacific Ocean), which means the total torque of the gravity forces of sea waters with depths equal to the Sea Level Anomaly (SLA) in the tropical Pacific Ocean, is defined in this study. The time series of the SLAT from merged altimeter data (1993-2003) had a great meridional variation during the 1997-1998 El Nio event. By using historical upper layer temperature data (1955-2003) for the tropical Pacific Ocean, the tempera- ture-based SLAT is also calculated and the meridional variation can be found in the historical El Nio events (1955-2003), which suggests that the meridional shifts of the sea level anomaly are also intrinsic oscillating modes of the El Nio cycles like the zonal shifts.     

Movements of the Western Pacific Warm Pool Centroid and Their Relationship to Sea Surface Temperature Changes in Ni(n)o Regions

By using monthly historical sea surface temperature (SST) data for the years from 1950 to 2000, the Western Pacific Warm Pool (WPWP) climatology and anomalies are studied in this paper. The analysis of WPWP centroid (WPWPC) movement anomalies and the Nino-3 region SST anomalies( SSTA) seems to reveal a close, linear relation between the zonal WPWPC and Nino-3 region SSTA, which suggests that a 9' anomaly of the zonal displacement from the climatological position of the WPWPC corresponds to about a 1 ℃ anomaly in the Nino-3 region area-mean SST. This study connects the WPWPC zonal displacement with the Nino-3 SSTA, and it may be helpful in better understanding the fact that the WPWP eastward extension is conducive to the Nino-3 region SST increase during an El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event.     

Distribution of the tropical Pacific surface zonal wind anomaly and its relation with two types of El Niño

El Nio events with an eastern Pacific pattern(EP) and central Pacific pattern(CP) were first separated using rotated empirical orthogonal functions(REOF).Lead/lag regression and rotated singular value decomposition(RSVD) analyses were then carried out to study the relation between the surface zonal wind(SZW) anomalies and sea surface temperature(SST) anomalies in the tropical Pacific.A possible physical process for the CP El Ni o was proposed.For the EP El Ni o,strong westerly anomalies that spread eastward continuously produce an anomalous ocean zonal convergence zone(ZCZ) centered on about 165°W.This SZW anomaly pattern favors poleward and eastward Sverdrup transport at the equator.For the CP El Nio,westerly anomalies and the ZCZ are mainly confined to the western Pacific,and easterly anomalies blow in the eastern Pacific.This SZW anomaly pattern restrains poleward and eastward Sverdrup transport at the equator;however,there is an eastward Sverdrup transport at about 5°N,which favors the warming of the north-eastern tropical Pacific.It is found that the slowness of eastward propagation of subsurface warm water(partly from the downwelling caused by Ekman convergence and the ZCZ) is due to the slowdown of the undercurrent in the central basin,and vertical advection in the central Pacific may be important in the formation and disappearance of the CP El Nio.     

Subtropical air-sea interaction and development of central Pacific El Niño

The standard deviation of the central Pacific sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) during the period from October to February shows that the central Pacific SSTA variation is primarily due to the occurrence of the Central Pacific El Nio (CP-El Nio) and has a connection with the subtropical air-sea interaction in the northeastern Pacific. After removing the influence of the Eastern Pacific El Nio, an S-EOF analysis is conducted and the leading mode shows a clear seasonal SSTA evolving from the subtropical northeastern Pacific to the tropical central Pacific with a quasi-biennial period. The initial subtropical SSTA is generated by the wind speed decrease and surface heat flux increase due to a north Pacific anomalous cyclone. Such subtropical SSTA can further influence the establishment of the SSTA in the tropical central Pacific via the wind-evaporation-SST (WES) feedback. After established, the central equatorial Pacific SSTA can be strengthened by the zonal advective feedback and thermocline feedback, and develop into CP-El Nio. However, as the thermocline feedback increases the SSTA cooling after the mature phase, the heat flux loss and the re-versed zonal advective feedback can cause the phase transition of CP-El Nio. Along with the wind stress variability, the recharge (discharge) process occurs in the central (eastern) equatorial Pacific and such a process causes the phase consistency between the thermocline depth and SST anomalies, which presents a contrast to the original recharge/discharge theory.     

Zonal displacement of western Pacific warm pool and zonal wind anomaly over the Pacific Ocean

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.     

The Influence of El Ni?o on MJO over the Equatorial Pacific

In this paper, the influence of El Ni?o event on the Madden-Julian Oscillation(MJO) over the equatorial Pacific is studied by using reanalysis data and relevant numerical simulation results. It is clearly shown that El Ni?o can reduce the intensity of MJO. The kinetic energy of MJO over the equatorial Pacific is stronger before the occurrence of the El Ni?o event, but it is reduced rapidly after El Ni?o event outbreak, and the weakened MJO even can continue to the next summer. The convection over the central-western Pacific is weakened in El Ni?o winter. The positive anomalous OLR over the central-western Pacific has opposite variation in El Ni?o winter comparing to the non-ENSO cases. The vertical structure of MJO also affected by El Ni?o event, so the opposite direction features of the geopotential height and the zonal wind in upper and lower level troposphere for the MJO are not remarkable in the El Ni?o winter and tend to be barotropic features. El Ni?o event also has an influence on the eastward propa- gation of the MJO too. During El Ni?o winter, the eastward propagation of the MJO is not so regular and unanimous and there exists some eastward propagation, which is faster than that in non-ENSO case. Dynamic analyses suggest that positive SSTA(El Ni?o case) affects the atmospheric thickness over the equatorial Pacific and then the excited atmospheric wave-CISK mode is weakened, so that the intensity of MJO is reduced; the combining of the barotropic unstable mode in the atmosphere excited by external forcing(SSTA) and the original MJO may be an important reason for the MJO vertical structure tending to be barotropic during the El Ni?o.     

Investigation of the Heat Budget of the Tropical Indian Ocean During Indian Ocean Dipole Events Occurring After ENSO

The Indian Ocean Dipole(IOD) is an important natural mode of the tropical Indian Ocean(TIO). Sea surface temperature anomaly(SSTA) variations in the TIO are an essential focus of the study of the IOD. Monthly variations of air-sea heat flux, rate of change of heat content and oceanic thermal advection in positive/negative IOD events(pIODs/nIODs) occurring after El Ni?o/La Ni?a were investigated, using long-series authoritative data, including sea surface wind, sea surface flux, ocean current, etc. It was found that the zonal wind anomaly induced by the initial SSTA gradient is the main trigger of IODs occurring after ENSOs. In pIODs, SSTA evolution in the TIO is primarily determined by the local surface heat flux anomaly, while in nIODs, it is controlled by anomalous oceanic thermal advection. The anomalous southwestern anticyclonic circulation in pIODs enhances regional differences in evaporative capacity and latent heat, and in nIODs, it augments the east-west difference in the advective thermal budget. Further, the meridional anomaly mechanism is also non-negligible during the development of nIODs. As the SWA moves eastward, the meridional SWA prevails near 60°E and the corresponding meridional anomalous current appears. The corresponding maximum meridional thermal advection anomaly reaches 200 Wm~(-2) in September.     

Interannual variability of transport and bifurcation of the North Equatorial Current in the tropical North Pacific Ocean

The relationship of the interannual variability of the transport and bifurcation latitude of the North Equatorial Current (NEC) to the El Ni o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is investigated. This is done through composite analysis of sea surface height (SSH) observed by satellite altimeter during October 1992-July 2009, and correspondingly derived sea surface geostrophic currents. During El Nio/La Ni a years, the SSH in the tropical North Pacific Ocean falls/rises, with maximum changes in the region 0-15°N, 130°E-160°E. The decrease/increase in SSH induces a cyclonic/anticyclonic anomaly in the western tropical gyre. The cyclonic/anticyclonic anomaly in the gyre results in an increase/decrease of NEC transport, and a northward/southward shift of the NEC bifurcation latitude near the Philippine coast. The variations are mainly in response to anomalous wind forcing in the west-central tropical North Pacific Ocean, related to ENSO events.     

ENSO cycle and climate anomaly in China

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 Ni o-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 Ni o, 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 Ni o, 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 Ni a 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.     

Asymmetric response of the South China Sea SST to El Niño and La Niña

The interannual variability of the sea surface temperature (SST) in the South China Sea (SCS) is investigated according to its relationship with El Nio/La Nia (EN/LN) using monthly products from ICOADS. The SCS SST bears two peaks associated with EN/LN and shows the asymmetric features. Coinciding with the mature phase of EN/LN, the first SST warming/cooling peaks in December(0)-February(1) (DJF(1)) and centers in the southern part. The major difference is in the amplitude associated with the strength of EN/LN. However, the SCS SST anomaly shows distinct difference after the mature phase of EN/LN. The EN SST warm-ing develops a mid-summer peak in June-August(1) (JJA(1)) and persists up to September-October(1), with the same amplitude of the first warming peak. Whereas the LN SST cooling peaks in May(1), it decays slowly until the end of the year, with amplitude much weaker. Comparing with SST and atmospheric circulations, the weak response and early termination of the second cooling is due to the failure of the cyclonic wind anomalies to develop in the northwest Pacific during JJA(1).     

Meridional Variation of the 1955-2003 Sea Level Anomalies in the Tropical Pacific Ocean Associated with El Nifio Events

The Sea Level Anomaly-Torque （SLAT, relative to a reference location in the Pacific Ocean）, which means the total torque of the gravity forces of sea waters with depths equal to the Sea Level Anomaly （S/A） in the tropical Pacific Ocean, is defined in this study. The time series of the SLAT from merged altimeter data （1993-2003） had a great meridional variation during the 1997-1998 E1 Nifio event. By using historical upper layer temperature data （1955-2003） for the tropical Pacific Ocean, the temperature-based SLAT is also calculated and the meridional variation can be found in the historical E1 Nifio events （1955-2003）, which suggests that the meridional shifts of the sea level anomaly are also intrinsic oscillating modes of the E1 Nifio cycles like the zonal shifts.     

Variations of the Eco-Hydro-Climatic Environment Response to the 2015/2016 Super El Niño Event in the Mindanao Dome Upwelling System

A super El Ni?o event occurred in the equatorial Pacific during 2015-2016,accompanied by considerable regional eco-hydro-climatic variations within the Mindanao Dome(MD)upwelling system in the tropical western Pacific.Using timeseries of various oceanic data from 2013 to 2017,the variability of eco-hydro-climatic conditions response to the 2015/2016 super El Ni?o in the upper 300 m of the MD region are analyzed in this paper.Results showed that during the 2015/2016 super El Ni?o event,the upwelling in the MD region was greatly enhanced compared to those before and after this El Ni?o event.Upwelling Rossby waves and the massive loss of surface water in the western Pacific were suggested to be the main reasons for this enhanced upwelling.De-creased precipitation caused by changes in large-scale air-sea interaction led to the increased surface salinities.Changes in the struc-tures of the thermohaline and nutrient distribution in deep waters contributed to the increased surface chlorophyll a,suggesting a po-sitive effect of El Ni?o on surface carbon storage in the MD region.Based on the above analysis,the synopsis mechanism illustrating the eco-hydro-climatic changing processes over the MD upwelling system responding to the El Ni?o event was proposed.It high-lights the prospect for the role played by El Ni?o in local eco-hydro-climatic effects,which has further profound implications for understanding the influence of the global climate changes on the ocean carbon cycle.     

Analysis of the Leading Modes of Autumn Precipitation over the Yangtze River Basin

Based on daily precipitation data from 109 stations in the Yangtze River Basin(YRB) over the past 36 years(1980 – 2015),the Empirical Orthogonal Function(EOF) is employed to analyze changes in autumn precipitation. We used the monthly mean reanalysis datasets of atmospheric circulation and sea surface temperature(SST) to investigate the possible causes of the two leading modes, based on which the predictive equations were constructed and tested. The results of the EOF analysis show that the variance contribution of the first mode is 31.07%, and the spatial distribution shows a uniform variation over the whole region. The variance contribution of the second mode is 15.02%, and the spatial distribution displays a north-south dipole pattern in the YRB. The leading mode shows a dominant interannual variation, which is mainly due to the West Pacific subtropical high and anticyclones over the Philippine islands. The SST field corresponds to the positive phase of the eastern Pacific El Ni?o and the tropical Indian Ocean dipole. The second mode may be related to the Indian Ocean-East Asian teleconnection and early withdrawal of the summer monsoon.The SST field corresponds to a weaker central Pacific El Ni?o. Through a stepwise regression analysis, SST anomalies in some areas during summer show a good predictive effect on the autumn precipitation mode in the YRB region.     

Sea surface temperature anomalies in the South China Sea during mature phase of ENSO

Based on the 18-year(1993–2010) National Centers for Environmental Prediction optimum interpolation sea surface temperature(SST) and simple ocean data assimilation datasets,this study investigated the patterns of the SST anomalies(SSTAs) that occurred in the South China Sea(SCS) during the mature phase of the El Ni?o/Southern Oscillation.The most dominant characteristic was that of the outof-phase variation between southwestern and northeastern parts of the SCS,which was influenced primarily by the net surface heat flux and by horizontal thermal advection.The negative SSTA in the northeastern SCS was caused mainly by the loss of heat to the atmosphere and because of the cold-water advection from the western Pacific through the Luzon Strait during El Ni?o episodes.Conversely,it was found that the anomalous large-scale atmospheric circulation and weakened western boundary current during El Ni?o episodes led to the development of the positive SSTA in the southwestern SCS.     

Dynamic mechanism of interannual zonal displacements of the eastern edge of the western Pacific warm pool

The eastern edge of the western Pacific warm pool (WPWP) in the upper layer (shallower than 50m) exhibits significant zonal displacements on interannual scale. Employing an intermediate ocean model, the dynamic mechanism for the interannual zonal displacement of the WPWP eastern edge in the upper layer is investigated by diagnosing the dynamic impacts of zonal current anomalies induced by wind, waves (Kelvin and Rossby waves), and their boundary reflections. The interannual zonal displacements of the WPWP eastern edge in the upper layer and the zonal current anomaly in the equatorial Pacific west of 110°W for more than 30 years can be well simulated. The modeling results show that zonal current anomalies in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific are the dominant dynamic mechanism for the zonal displacements of the eastern edge of the upper WPWP warm water. Composite analyses suggest that the zonal current anomalies induced by waves dominate the zonal displacement of the WPWP eastern edge, whereas the role played by zonal wind-driven current anomalies is very small. A sensitivity test proves that the zonal current anomalies associated with reflected waves on the western and eastern Pacific boundaries can act as a restoring force that results in the interannual reciprocating zonal motion of the WPWP eastern edge.     

Spatial and Temporal Variability of Thermal Stress to China’s Coral Reefs in South China Sea

Coral bleaching, caused by elevated sea surface temperature(SST), is occurring more frequently and seriously worldwide. Due to the lack of field observations, we understand little about the large-scale variability of thermal stress in the South China Sea(SCS) and its effect on China’s coral reefs. This paper used 4-km high resolution gap-filled SST(Filled SST) data and thermal stress data related to coral bleaching derived from Coral Reef Temperature Anomaly Database(Co RTAD) to quantify the spatial and temporal characteristics of chronic thermal stress and acute thermal stress to China’s coral reefs in SCS from 1982 to 2009. We analyzed the trend of SST in summer and the thermal stress frequency, intensity and duration during this period. The results indicate that, as a chronic thermal stress, summer mean SST in SCS shows an average upward trend of 0.2℃/decade and the spatial pattern is heterogeneous. Waters of Xisha Islands and Dongsha Islands of the northern SCS are warming faster through time compared to Zhongsha Islands and Nansha Islands sea areas of the southern SCS. High frequency bleaching related thermal stress events for these reefs are seen in the area to the northwest of Luzon Island. Severe anomaly thermal stress events are more likely to occur during the subsequent year of the El Nino year for these coral reefs. Besides, the duration of thermal stress varies considerably by anomaly year and by region.     

Variation in joint mode of the tropical Indian-Pacific Ocean thermodynamic anomaly

Previous research has defined the index of the Indian-Pacific thermodynamic anomaly joint mode (IPTAJM) and suggested that the winter IPTAJM has an important impact on summer rainfall over China. However, the possible causes for the interannual and decadal variability of the IPTAJM are still unclear. Therefore, this work investigates zonal displacements of both the western Pacific warm pool (WPWP) and the eastern Indian Ocean warm pool (EIOWP). The relationships between the WPWP and the EIOWP and the IPTAJM are each examined, and then the impacts of the zonal wind anomalies over the equatorial Pacific and Indian Oceans on the IPTAJM are studied. The WPWP eastern edge anomaly displays significant interannual and decadal variability and experienced a regime shift in about 1976 and 1998, whereas the EIOWP western edge exhibits only distinct interannual variability. The decadal variability of the IPTAJM may be mainly caused by both the zonal migration of the WPWP and the 850 hPa zonal wind anomaly over the central equatorial Pacific. On the other hand, the zonal migrations of both the WPWP and the EIOWP and the zonal wind anomalies over the central equatorial Pacific and the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean may be all responsible for the interannual variability of the IPTAJM.     

Forecasts of South China Sea surface temperature anomalies using the Nio indices and dipole mode index as predictors

Based on an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis of the monthly NCEP Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature (OISST) data in the South China Sea (SCS) after removing the climatological mean and trends of SST,over the period of January 1982 to October 2003,the corresponding TCF correlates best with the Dipole Mode Index (DMI),Nio1+2,Nio3.4,Nio3,and Nio4 indices with time lags of 10,3,6,5,and 6 months,respectively.Thus,a statistical hindcasts in the prediction model are based on a canonical correlation analysis (CCA) model using the above indices as predictors spanning from 1993/1994 to 2003/2004 with a 1-12 month lead time after the canonical variants are calculated,using data from the training periods from January 1982 to December1992.The forecast model is successful and steady when the lead times are 1-12 months.The SCS warm event in 1998 was successfully predicted with lead times from 1-12 months irrespective of the strength or time extent.The prediction ability for SSTA is lower during weak ENSO years,in which other local factors should be also considered as local effects play a relatively important role in these years.We designed the two forecast models:one using both DMI and Nio indices and the other using only Nio indices without DMI,and compared the forecast accuracies of the two cases.The spatial distributions of forecast accuracies show different confidence areas.By turning off the DMI,the forecast accuracy is lower in the coastal areas off the Philippines in the SCS,suggesting some teleconnection may occur with the Indian Ocean in this area.The highest forecast accuracies occur when the forecast interval is five months long without using the DMI,while using both of Nio indices and DMI,the highest accuracies occur when the forecast interval time is eight months,suggesting that the Nio indices dominate the interannual variability of SST anomalies in the SCS.Meanwhile the forecast accuracy is evaluated over an independent test period of more than 11 years (1993/94 to October 2004) by comparing the model performance with a simple prediction strategy involving the persistence of sea surface temperature anomalies over a 1-12 month lead time (the persisted prediction).Predictions based on the CCA model show a significant improvement over the persisted prediction,especially with an increased lead time (longer than 3 months).The forecast model performs steadily and the forecast accuracy,i.e.,the correlation coefficients between the observed and predicted SSTA in the SCS are about 0.5 in most middle and southern SCS areas,when the thresholds are greater than the 95% confidence level.For all 1 to 12 month lead time forecasts,the root mean square errors have a standard deviation of about 0.2.The seasonal differences in the prediction performance for the 1-12 month lead time are also examined.     

A heat budget study on the mechanism of SST variations in the Indian ocean dipole regions

By using a new heat budget equation that is closely related to the sea surface temperature （SST） and a dataset from an ocean general circulation model （MOM2） with 10-a integration （1987-1996）, the relative importance of various processes determining SST variations in two regions of the Indian Ocean is compared. These regions are defined by the Indian Ocean Dipole Index and will be referred to hereafter as the eastern （0^＊-10^＊S, 90^＊-110^＊E） and western regions （10^＊S- 10^＊N, 50^＊-70^＊E）, respectively. It is shown that in each region there is a falling of SST in boreal summer and a rising in most months of other seasons, but the phases are quite different. In the eastern region, maximum cooling rate occurs in July, whereas in the western region it occurs in June with much larger magnitude. Maximum heating rate occurs in November in the eastern region, but in March in the western one. The western region exhibits another peak of increasing rate of SST in October, indicating a typical half-year period. Net surface heat flux and entrainment show roughly the same phases as the time-varying term, but the former has much larger contribution in most of a year, whereas the latter is important in the boreal summer. Horizontal advection, however, shows completely different seasonal variations as compared with any other terms in the heat budget equation. In the eastern region, it has a maximum in June/November and a minimum in March/ September, manifesting a half-year period; in the western region, it reaches the maximum in August and the minimum in November. Further investigation of the horizontal advection indicates that the zonal advection has almost the opposite sign to the meridional advection. In the eastern region, the zonal advection is negative with a peak in August, whereas the meridional one is positive with two peaks in June and October. In the western region, the zonal advection is negative from March to November with two peaks in June and November, whereas the meridional one is positive with one peak in July. Different phases can be clearly seen between the two regions for each component of the horizontal advection. A detailed analysis of the data of 1994, a year identified when the Indian Ocean dipole event happened, indicates that the horizontal advection plays a dominant role in the remarkable cooling of the eastern region, in which zonal and meridional advections have the same sign of anomaly. However, in the western region in 1994 no any specialty was shown as compared with other years, for the SST anomaly is not positive in large part of this region. All these imply that the eastern and western regions may be related in a quite complex way and have many differences in dynamics. Further study is needed.     

Environmental anomalies in the northeastern East China Sea during the last 3 000 years:implications for El Nio activity in the Holocene

To reconstruct the productivity changes for the last 10 500 a in the northeastern East China Sea (ECS),biogenic compounds (such as carbonate,organic carbon and opal),marine micropaleontological fossils (planktonic foraminifera,benthic foraminifera,radiolarian and silicoflagellate) and the compositional characters of benthic foraminifera fauna analyses were carried out on a sediment core DOC082 obtained from the western slope of Okinawa Trough (29°13.93'N,128°08.53'E;1 128 m water depth).The long-term changes of biogenic and micropaleontological proxies display some similarities through the last 10 500 a,which show three different phases:lower values are recorded during the early and middle Holocene (before about 4 000 a BP),followed by an abrupt and remarkable increase at about 4 000 a BP,the late Holocene (after about 3 000 a BP) is characterized by continuously high values.The multi-proxy data of paleoproductivity and percents of benthic foraminifera genera (Uvigerina and Bulimina) show that during the early and middle Holocene (10 500-4 000 a BP) productivity was relatively low with a sudden and distinct increase at about 4 000 a BP,and the late Holocene (3 400-0 a BP) is marked by significantly higher productivity.Also,the radiolarian-based sea surface temperature (SST) records reveal a distinct decline in SST in the late Holocene after 3 200 a BP,very different from the early and middle Holocene.For the last 3 000 a,the enhanced biological productivity and distinctly lower SST indicate a major change of oceanographic conditions in the northeastern ECS.These marine environmental anomalies are consistent with other paleoclimatic records for the late Holocene in the Chinese continent and its surrounding regions.After analyzing the mechanisms of modern productivity and SST changes in the northeastern ECS,and based on the climatic anomalies in the Chinese continent and variations in the Kuroshio Current during modern El Nio periods,we suggest that the anomalous environmental conditions in the northeastern ECS may imply intensified El Nio activity during the late Holocene.