HEAVY METAL COMPLEXATION CAPACITY OF THE SOUTH CHINA SEA WATER

The seawater complexation capacity for heavy metals (copper, lead and cadmium )in the South China Sea was determined by anodic voltammetry and the conditional stability constants of these complexes were calculated. The data showed that the complexation capacity of the South China Sea water was greater than that of seawater in the Huanghe Estuary and the coast water of Qingdao. The sequence of complexation capacity is C(CuL)>C(PbL)>C(CdL), and the conditional stability constants were in an opposite sequence: K.(CuL) Cd and Pb were similan to those obtained by Buckley (1986) for the Atlantic Ocean water. Complexation capacity is maximum at the surface layer, decreasing with depth, reaching minimum at 750m, but increasing again near the sea bottom.     

Chemical oxygen demand of seawater determined with a microwave heating method

This paper investigates a microwave heating method for the determination of chemical oxygen demand (COD) in seawater. The influences of microwave-power, heating time and standard substances on the results are studied. Using the proposed method, we analyzed the glucose standard solution, the coefficient of variation being less than 2%. Compared with the traditional electric stove heating method, the results of F-test and T-test showed that there was no significant difference between the two methods, but the microwave method had slightly higher precision and reproducibility than the electric stove method. With the microwave heating method, several seawater samples from Jiaozhou Bay and the South Yellow Sea were also analyzed. The recovery was between 97.5% and 104.3%. This new method has the advantages of shortening the heating time, improving the working efficiency and having simple operation and therefore can be used to analyze the COD in seawater.     

A new spectrophotometric method for measuring COD of seawater

This research studied a new spectrophotometric method for measuring the chemical oxygen demand （COD） of seawater. In this method, the COD was measured using a spectrophotometer instead of titrating with sodium thiosuiphate. The measuring wavelength was selected to be 470 nm, and the COD of three standard glucose solutions （COD = 0.5, 1.5 and 2.5 mgL^-1, respectively） and two seawater samples （from the South Yellow Sea and Jiaozhou Bay） were measured using the spectrophotometric method and titrimetric method respectively. The results showed that the spectrophotometric method was somewhat better than the titrimetric method. The relative standard deviation （RSD） of the spectrophotometric method was less than 2.7%, and the recovery of seawater samples ranged from 96.3% to 103.8%. In addition, the spectrophotometric method has other advantages such as expeditiousness, operation simplicity, analysis automatization, etc. Therefore the spectrophotometric method can be used to measure the COD of seawater with satisfactory results.     

Analysis of monthly variability of thermocline in the South China Sea

This study analyzes monthly variability of thermocline and its mechanism in the South China Sea(SCS). The study is based on 51-year(1960–2010) monthly seawater temperature and surface wind stress data from Simple Ocean Data Assimilation(SODA), together with heat flux, precipitation and evaporation data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction(NCEP), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA) and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, respectively. The results reveal that the upper boundary depth(Z_(up)), lower boundary depth(Z _(low)), thickness(?Z) and intensity( T _z) of thermocline in the SCS show remarkable monthly variability. Being averaged for the deep basin of SCS, Z_(up) deepens gradually from May to the following January and then shoals from February to May, while Z low varies little throughout the whole year. Further diagnostics indicates that the monthly variability of Z_(up) is mainly caused by the buoyancy flux and wind stress curl. Using a linear method, the impacts of the buoyancy flux and wind stress curl on Z_(up) can be quantitatively distinguished. The results suggest that Z_(up) tends to deepen about 4.6 m when the buoyancy flux increases by 1×10~(-5) kg/(m?s ~3), while it shoals about 2.5 m when the wind stress curl strengthens by 1×10-~(7) N/m3.     

Limnological instrumentation in the middle of the 19th century: the first temperature and density profiles measured in the Dead Sea

The first modern survey of the Dead Sea was performed by the Geological Survey of Israel in 1959–1960,and the report published remains the baseline study for our understanding of the physical and chemical properties of the lake.At the time the Dead Sea was a meromictic lake with a strong salinity gradient separating the deep waters(40 m depth) from the less saline surface waters.A few results of analyses of deeper water samples collected in the 1930 s were reported,but overall we have very little information about the structure of the lake's water column before the 1959–1960 survey.However,it is little known that data on the physical and the chemical structure of the Dead Sea water column were obtained already in the middle of the 19 th century,and the information collected then is highly relevant for the reconstruction of the limnological properties of the lake in earlier times.The expedition of Lieutenant William Lynch(U.S.Navy) in 1848 reported the presence of a temperature minimum at a depth of ~18 m,and also retrieved a water sample collected close to the bottom for chemical analysis.In 1864,the French Dead Sea exploration by the Duc de Luynes and his crew yielded detailed density and salinity profiles for a number of sampling stations.The results of these pioneering studies are discussed here,as well as the sampling equipment and measuring instruments used by the 1848 and the 1864 expeditions.     

Bacterial diversity and community structure in the East China Sea by 454 sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene

The 454 sequencing method was used to detect bacterial diversity and community structure in the East China Sea. Overall, 149 067 optimized reads with an average length of 454 nucleotides were obtained from 17 seawater samples and five sediment samples sourced in May 2011. A total of 22 phyla, 34 classes, 74 orders, 146 families, and 333 genera were identified in this study. Some of them were detected for the first time from the East China Sea. The estimated richness and diversity indices were both higher in the sediment samples compared with in the seawater samples. All the samples were divided by their diversity indices into four regions. Similarity analysis showed that the seawater samples could be classified into six groups. The groups differed from each other and had unique community structure characteristics. It was found that different water masses in the sampling areas may have had some influence on the bacterial community structure. A canonical correspondence analysis revealed that seawater samples in different areas and at different depths were affected by different environmental parameters. This study will lay the foundation for future research on microbiology in the East China Sea.     

Spatial Differences and Influencing Factors of Dissolved Gaseous Mercury in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea in Spring

From 28 March to 17 April, 2018, different forms of mercury(Hg) in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea were measured to study the influencing factors on the distribution and transformation of Hg in spring using a shared cruise. The mean concentration of dissolved gaseous mercury(DGM) in the surface water of the Yellow and Bohai Seas was(44.3 ± 43.9) pg/L, which was close to that in mid-latitude oceans and deep seas. The ratio of DGM to THg(total mercury) was lower than in the oceans and in the Yellow and Bohai Seas in summer or fall. DGM concentrations in surface water were highest in the central part of the South Yellow Sea and were higher than those in the Bohai Sea, and their spatial distributions were consistent with RHg(reactive mercury). DGM and RHg correlated positively with water temperature in surface seawater(r = 0.506, P < 0.01;r = 0.278, P < 0.05). The concentrations of both DGM and RHg in surface water were controlled by solar radiation and water temperature. Foggy weather did not benefit the production of DGM and RHg. DGM in the bottom seawater was mainly affected by Dissolved Oxygen and water temperature(r =-0.366, P < 0.01;r = 0.331, P < 0.01), produced mainly by anaerobic reactions of the bottom seawater and sediment microorganisms. The bottom DGM concentrations in the Yellow and Bohai Seas were the highest, and DGM produced in bottom seawater and sediment plays a more important role than the surface water in spring. The concentrations of DGM and RHg in the surface and bottom water in the South Yellow Sea were all higher than those in the middle layer. Vertical variations in the North Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea were small. The production and distribution of DGM and RHg were influenced by differences of latitude and by the Yellow Sea warm current in spring.     

SEAWATER FLUX THROUGH TAIWAN STRAIT

After the winter and summer current structures on two or three latitudinal sections in Taiwan Strait were obtained from the measured current data, the seawater flux through the sections were cal -culated. In summer, the currents in the central and northern part of Taiwan Strait normally flow northward at a net flux of 3.32×l06m3 /s. In winter, the high temperature and salinity Kuroshio and South China Sea water enter Taiwan Strait from the southern section at 1.69× 106m3/s and 0.59×10 m3/s respectively, while the East China Sea water enters Taiwan Strait from the northern section at 1.02×106m3/s. About 0.40×106m3/s of the seawater enters the South China Sea along the coast of Fujian and Guangdong; the other 0.62×106m3/s of the seawater is mixed with the Kuroshio water and the South China Sea water in the northern sea area . The net northward flux is 1.74×106m3/s in winter.     

Steady increase in water clarity in Jiaozhou Bay in the Yellow Sea from 2000 to 2018: Observations from MODIS

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS) surface reflectance data were used to analyze the temporal and spatial distribution characteristics of water clarity( Z_(sd)) in the Jiaozhou Bay, Qingdao, China, in the Yellow Sea from 2000 to 2018. Z_(sd)retrieval models were regionally optimized using in-situ data with coincident MODIS images, and then were used to retrieve the Z_(sd) products in Jiaozhou Bay from 2000–2018. The analysis of the Z_(sd) results suggests that the spatial distribution of relative Z_(sd) spatial characteristics in Jiaozhou Bay was stable, being higher Z_(sd) in the southeast and a lower Z_(sd) in the northwest. The annual mean Z_(sd) in Jiaozhou Bay showed a significant upward trend, with an annual increase of approximately 0.02 m. Water depth and wind speed were important factors affecting the spatial distribution and annual variation of Z_(sd) in Jiaozhou Bay, respectively.     

Measurement of single-fish target strength in the South China Sea

We measured the target strength (TS) of three commercial fish species: whitespotted spinefoot (Siganus canaliculatus), black porgy (Acanthopagrus schlegelii), and creek red bream (Lutjanus argentimaculatus), in the South China Sea. The TS of caged or tethered fish (n=76 total) was measured using a Simrad EY60 portable scientific echosounder at 120 kHz. We evaluated the relationship between TS and total length (TL, cm) for the three species. This is the first attempt to use split-beam acoustics to measure single-fish TS in the South China Sea by Chinese researchers. Our results will improve the accuracy and precision of acoustic abundance estimates of commercially important species and further the development of underwater acoustic survey techniques in fisheries in the South China Sea.     

Distribution and generic composition of culturable marine actinomycetes from the sediments of Indian continental slope of Bay of Bengal

Actinomycetes population from continental slope sediment of the Bay of Bengal was studied. Samples were collected during two voyages of FORV Sagar Sampada in 2004 （May-June） and 2005 （July） respectively from 11 transects （each transect had ca. 200 m, 500 m, and 1 000 m depth stations）. The physicochemical parameters of overlying water, and sediment samples were also recorded. The actinomycete population ranged from 5.17 to 51.94 CFU/g dry sediment weight and 9.38 to 45.22 CFU/g dry sediment weight during the two cruises respectively. No actinomycete colony was isolated from stations in 1 000 m depth. Two-way analysis of variance showed significant variation among stations （ANOVA two-way, P〈0.05）, but no significance was found between the two cruises （ANOVA two-way, P〈0.05）. Populations in stations in 500 m depth in both cruises were higher than that of 200 m depth stations with statistically insignificant difference （ANOVA two-way, P〉0.05）. Three actinomycetes genera were identified. Streptomyces was found to be the dominating one in both the cruises, followed by Micromonospora, and Actinomyces. The spore of Streptomyces isolates showed the abundance in spiral spore chain. Spore surface was smooth. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the influencing physico-chemical factors were sediment pH, sediment temperature, TOC, porosity, salinity, and pressure. The media used in the present study was prepared with seawater. Thus, they may represent an autochthonous marine flora and deny the theory of land runoff carriage into the sea for adaptation to the salinity of the seawater and sediments.     

Preliminary description of diatom community and its relationship with water physicochemical variables in Qixinghe Wetland

Wetlands play a very important role in ecosystems. Qixinghe Wetland is a nature reserve area in northeastern China. In this paper, diatom communities and environmental qualities were investigated at eight sites in Qixinghe Wetland. This study was to examine diatom species patterns in relation to environmental variables in wetlands, and to use diatoms as indicators to water quality in wetlands and wetland classification. Diatoms were sampled in summers and autumns in 2002 and 2004, during which 180 taxa were identified. Environmental variations in pH, temperature, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were measured. The seasonal composition and abundance of diatoms changed greatly during the study period. The relationship between diatoms and chemical water quality was estimated statistically. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) with forward selection and Monte Carlo permutation tests revealed that all water environmental variables changed during the study period (P<0.05). Among all the parameters, variation in BOD among the sites was a very important determinant of species composition according to the CCA, and BOD decreased from 2002 to 2004. Our results suggest that the water quality had improved during the three-year period because of enhanced environmental protection with less human disturbance. We conclude that diatoms can be used to indicate water quality and habitat conditions in this wetland.     

The Effect of Boreal Summer Intraseasonal Oscillation on Mixed Layer and Upper Ocean Temperature over the South China Sea

Intraseasonal oscillation of the mixed layer and upper ocean temperature has been found to occur over the South China Sea(SCS) in the summer monsoon season based on the multiple reanalysis and observational data in this study. The method of composite analysis and an upper ocean temperature equation assisted the analysis of physical mechanisms. The results show that the mixed layer depth(MLD) in the SCS has a significant oscillation with a 30 – 60 d period over the SCS region, which is closely re...     

Evaluation of mouse bioassay results in an inter-laboratory comparison for paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins

An inter-laboratory comparison of the AOAC mouse bioassay for paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxicity in shellfish was carried out among 25 Chinese laboratories to examine the overall performance for PSP testing in China, and to analyze the main factors affecting the performance of this method. The toxic scallop Patinopecten yessoensis collected from coast of Bohai Sea, China, was used as a test sample in the comparison study. The results were reported and evaluated using robust statistical methods. The z scores showed that 80%, 8%, and 12% of laboratories reported satisfactory results, unsatisfactory results, and questionable results, respectively. This evaluation demonstrates that the PSP mouse bioassay is an appropriate method for screening and testing PSP toxicity in shellfish. However, it was found that the experience and skill of technicians, as well as the body weight and health status of mice being used significantly affected the accuracy of the method.     

Ferroan dolomites in Miocene sediments of the Xisha Islands and their genetic model

Carbonate rocks are important reservoirs for global petroleum exploration.The largest oilfield in the South China Sea,Liuhua 11-1,is distributed in the massive carbonate reef area of the Zhujiang(Pearl)River Mouth Basin.Previous studies showed that one 802.17-m-long core from well Xichen-1 in the South China Sea mainly consisted of white and light gray-white organic reefs.Recently,a Miocene whole core(161.9 m long)of well Xiyong-2,near well Xichen-1,was found to contain six layers of yellowish brown,light yellowish gray,iron black,or light yellowish gray-white organic reefs.Scanning electron microscope images of these layers reveal a typical ferroan dolomite rich in Fe(up to 29%),with the high concentrations of Mn,Cu,W,Zn,Cr,Ni,and Co.Systematic X-ray powder diffraction analysis yields a 1.9–6.1 match in phase ratio with ankerite,5.4–26.9 with dolomite,and zero with calcite,which indicate that the samples can be classified as ferroan dolomite.The iron and heavy metals are inferred to be originated from multiple volcanic eruptions of Gaojianshi Island in the Dongdao Atoll during the middle-late Miocene.These elements were dissolved in seawater,likely as a sol,and carried to Yongxing Island in the Xuande Atoll by sea currents and tides enhanced by prevailing winds,and deposited as a part of the sedimentation process in the study area.The ferroan dolomite has Sr content of (125–285)×10~(-6),which is lower than the accepted Sr boundary value of dolomite.This finding suggests that dolomitization occurred during large-scale global glacial regression in the late Miocene.The isolated Xisha carbonate platform,exposed to air,underwent freshwater leaching and dolomitization induced by mixed water,and caused the extensive Fe-Mg exchange along the organic reef profile to form ankerite and ferroan dolomite.These results may help to understand paleoceanographic environmental changes in the South China Sea during the Miocene.     

Surface inflow into the South China Sea through the Luzon Strait in winter

We studied the driving force of the Kuroshio intrusion into the South China Sea (SCS) during the winter monsoon, using satellite-tracked drifters entering the Luzon Strait (LS) through the Balintany and Babuyan Channels from the Philippine Sea. Most drifters passing through the Babuyan Channel in winter entered the interior SCS without a significant change in velocity. However, half of the drifters passing through the Balintany Channel entered the SCS at ~30 cm/s, which was faster than when they entered the LS. The other half continued moving northwestward into the Kuroshio and returned to the North Pacific. Quantitative analyses, using surface climatological wind and sea surface height anomaly (SSHa) data explained both the difference in velocity of drifters between the two channels and their acceleration through the Balintany Channel. The results suggest that the positive meridional gradient of sea surface height in the Luzon Strait, caused by the pileup of seawater driven by the Northeast monsoon, as well as Ekman flow, contribute to the Kuroshio intrusion into the SCS through the Babuyan and Balintany Channels. The former may be the main driving force.     

Comparative Study on Coastal Depth Inversion Based on Multi-source Remote Sensing Data

Coastal depth is an important research focus of coastal waters and is also a key factor in coastal environment. Dongluo Island in South China Sea was taken as a typical study area. The band ratio model was established by using measured points and three multispectral images of Landsat-8, SPOT-6(Systeme Probatoire d'Observation de la Terre, No.6) and WorldView-2. The band ratio model with the highest accuracy is selected for the depth inversion respectively. The results show that the accuracy of SPOT-6 image is the highest in the inversion of coastal depth. Meanwhile, analyzing the error of inversion from different depth ranges, the accuracy of the inversion is lower in the range of 0–5 m because of the influence of human activities. The inversion accuracy of 5–10 m is the highest, and the inversion error increases with the increase of water depth in the range of 5–20 m for the three kinds of satellite images. There is no linear relationship between the accuracy of remote sensing water depth inversion and spatial resolution of remote sensing data, and it is affected by performance and parameters of sensor. It is necessary to strengthen the research of remote sensor in order to further improve the accuracy of inversion.     

A new species and new recorded species of Lumbrineridae Schmarda, 1861 (Annelida: Polychaeta) from China

Based on material deposited in the Marine Biological Museum of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(Qingdao),a new species,Lumbrineris sinensis sp.nov.,as well as Augeneria albidentata(Ehlers,1908),which is recorded for the first time from coastal water of China,are reported in the present paper.The specimens examined were collected during 1958 to 1960 from the Yellow Sea,East China Sea and South China Sea at depths of 4 to 182 m.     

Two new records of Pyramidellidae (Gastropoda, Heterobranchia) from China seas

This paper reports two species of the family Pyramidellidae (Gastropoda, Heterobranchia), Otopleura nitida (A. Adams, 1854) and Rugadentia manzakiana (Yokoyama, 1922). The former was from the South China Sea and the latter was from the Yellow Sea and East China Sea. The study was based on the collections deposited in the Marine Biological Museum, Chinese Academy of Sciences. This is for the first time that these species have been recorded in China seas. In the current contribution, we describe and illustrate these two species, and compare them with similar species.     

Simulation of phytoplankton biomass in Quanzhou Bay using a back propagation network model and sensitivity analysis for environmental variables

Prediction and sensitivity models,to elucidate the response of phytoplankton biomass to environmental factors in Quanzhou Bay,Fujian,China,were developed using a back propagation(BP) network.The environmental indicators of coastal phytoplankton biomass were determined and monitoring data for the bay from 2008 was used to train,test and build a three-layer BP artificial neural network with multi-input and single-output.Ten water quality parameters were used to forecast phytoplankton biomass(measured as chlorophyll-a concentration).Correlation coefficient between biomass values predicted by the model and those observed was 0.964,whilst the average relative error of the network was-3.46% and average absolute error was 10.53%.The model thus has high level of accuracy and is suitable for analysis of the influence of aquatic environmental factors on phytoplankton biomass.A global sensitivity analysis was performed to determine the influence of different environmental indicators on phytoplankton biomass.Indicators were classified according to the sensitivity of response and its risk degree.The results indicate that the parameters most relevant to phytoplankton biomass are estuary-related and include pH,sea surface temperature,sea surface salinity,chemical oxygen demand and ammonium.