Studies on the Coral Reefs of the South China Sea: From Global Change to Oil-Gas Exploration

Studies on the coral reefs of the South China Sea (SCS) was the theme of the 6th Session of the 3rd Conference on Earth System Science (CESS) in Shanghai, 2014. This session discussed the most recent study developments on the SCS coral reefs, including coral reefs’ responses to global changes, coral reefs’ records on past climatic variations, and the activities about constructions and oil gas explorations in the coral reefs areas of the SCS. Disturbed by intensive anthropogenic activities and global climate warming, coral reefs in the SCS have declined dramatically, reflecting the up to 80% decrease of living coral cover and many areas having less than 20% of living coral cover. Geochemical data of SCS coral skeletons clearly show that since the Industry Revolution, the pollution situation of the SCS have dramatically increased and the seawater pH values have been continuously lowering, i.e. oceanic acidification. All these environmental phenomenon are further stressing the healthy development of the coral reef ecosystem in the SCS. Meanwhile, the poor coral reef ecosystems in the SCS are facing more anthropogenic disturbances such as coastal developments and engineering constructions. Obviously, the SCS coral reefs will be faced with more environmental challenges in the coming future. We therefore suggest that the policy makers should realize the extreme importance and the fragile of the coral reef ecosystems, and scientifically and with great cautions design construction project when in coral reef areas. We initiated the concept of “green engineering” for future developments in coral reef areas. Coral reefs are widely spreading in the whole SCS, and most of them developed since Miocene. Variations in coral reef structures provide good future oil-gas exploration. Because the SCS coral reefs have a long-developing history and a wide spatial distribution, they provide great potential in recording past environmental changes.     

Atoll island vulnerability to flooding and inundation revealed by historical reconstruction: Fongafale Islet, Funafuti Atoll, Tuvalu

The reef islands formed on coral atolls are generally small, low, and flat, with elevations of only a few meters. These islands are thus highly vulnerable to elevated sea levels caused by extreme events and global warming. Such vulnerability was recently evidenced at Fongafale Islet, the capital of Tuvalu, when it flooded during accelerated spring high tides possibly related to sea level rise caused by global warming. Many factors, not only environmental but also economic and social, determine the vulnerability of an island to sea level rise. In this study, we used data spanning 108 yrs to reconstruct changes in topography, land use/cover, population, and the distribution of buildings at Fongafale Islet. The results indicate that the vulnerability of Fongafale Islet relates to its original landform characteristics: the central part of the island was formerly dominated by swampland that flooded at high tides. Fongafale Islet experienced greater population in-migration and centralization beginning in the 1970s following the independence of Tuvalu and Kiribati. Migrants were also responding to declines in overseas mining operations and limited options for paid employment. As the population increased, construction took place in vulnerable swampland areas. Our results clearly demonstrate that examinations of global environmental issues should focus on characteristics specific to the region of interest. These characteristics should be specified using historical reconstruction to understand and address the vulnerability of an area to global environmental changes.     

塔中地区良里塔格组海平面变化对高频层序和沉积演化的控制

【研究目的】碳酸盐岩地层易受海平面变化影响而发育高频层序,但是反映海平面变化的地化指标的精度不足,导致高频层序对海平面振荡的响应认识不够深入,高频海平面变化对台地边缘礁滩沉积的高频层序和沉积演化的控制尚不明确。【研究方法】论文研究选取塔里木盆地塔中地区某钻井的上奥陶统良里塔格组连续取心资料,通过密集取样开展微相分析和碳、氧同位素测试分析。【研究结果】该井良里塔格组中上部发育7种微相类型,沉积演化分析表明良里塔格组沉积中—晚期,沉积环境由潮坪向生物礁-颗粒滩再到较深水的开阔台地演化。碳、氧同位素测试显示δ¹³C为0.5993‰~1.6228‰（均值1.139‰）,δ¹⁸O值为-8.3608‰~-5.1452‰（均值为-6.790‰）;δ¹³C和δ¹⁸O的振荡变化与微相变化和沉积旋回对应良好。古海洋条件分析表明,良里塔格组沉积时期气候温热,礁、滩体发育层段样品的古温度值最高,代表着高的碳酸盐产率;Z值所反映的古盐度在底部潮坪沉积段最高,在高频旋回的顶部古盐度均明显减小,指示可能存在大气淡水的影响。与塔北地区南缘和巴楚地区的δ¹³C和δ¹⁸O存在一定差异,主要受控于沉积环境和古水深。【结论】良里塔格组中—上部存在至少3个完整的海平面升降变化周期,内部又包括至少2个次级周期;不同级别的海平面振荡主要受古气候变化驱动,并控制了高频层序的发育。海平面先缓慢上升再持续稳定或小规模振荡,是连续厚层的生物碎屑和砂屑颗粒滩沉积发育的有利条件;良里塔格组沉积晚期海平面快速上升,沉积环境向滩间洼地和较深水的开阔台地转变。在高频层序顶部海平面的小规模下降导致的早期岩溶作用是礁滩体储层质量改善的重要因素。     

海上顶部双驱动联动隔水管钻探取心技术

我国南海海域分布着大量礁灰岩地层,这种地层具有原生孔隙大、压缩性强、容易变形、强度小等特点,因此易渗透、易破碎、易坍塌。在岛礁上钻探也常常出现断钻、垮孔、埋钻等事故。对于海洋礁灰岩地层钻探,不仅要克服陆地上面临的问题,还需要面对更为复杂的海洋环境。为解决海上特殊地层取心困难问题,基于船载无隔水管钻探系统,开发了海上顶部双驱动联动隔水管钻探取心技术。该钻探取心技术方案在西沙海域4个不同的站位进行了海洋钻探试验。试验结果表明,该技术可实现高效率、高岩心采取率的海上礁灰岩取心目的,取心深度可达130.75 m,具有广阔的推广前景。     

塔北西部一间房组碳酸盐岩礁滩体同生期暴露溶蚀作用模式

在详细的钻井资料和岩心的宏观及微观特征研究的基础上,通过对塔北隆起西部奥陶系中统一间房组礁滩体沉积相特征及展布规律的分析,结合礁滩体储层同生期溶蚀作用特征研究,按照古沉积地貌单元结合岩相的方法建立了一间房组礁滩体同生期溶蚀作用模式。研究认为一间房组开阔台地相包括台内滩、滩间海和台内点礁3个亚相,沉积相平面分布稳定;一间房组的同生期暴露溶蚀作用明显,普遍反映出滩体的间歇性暴露的特征:生物钻孔和溶蚀孔洞内充填礁滩体暴露形成的古土壤泥;发育潮间带的化石碎片堆积和软体生物活动遗迹;岩心观察和成像测井可以识别出渗流-潜流带溶蚀作用旋回。按照礁滩相沉积地貌结合岩相的模式,将一间房组开阔台地的浅滩和点礁沉积划分出潮上长期暴露滩、潮间间歇暴露滩、潮下高能滩、瓶筐石障积礁、潮汐水道等地貌单元。     

Interplay between an axial channel belt,slope gullies and overbank deposition in the Puchkirchen Formation in the Molasse Basin,Austria

Deep‐water sediments in the Molasse Basin, Austria, were deposited in a narrow foreland basin dominated by a large channel belt located between the steep Alpine fold and thrust belt to the south and the gentler northern slope off the Bohemian Massif. Several gas fields occur outside the channel belt, along the outer bend of a large meander. Accumulation of these overbank sediments reflects a complicated interplay between slope accommodation and debris‐flow and turbidity‐flow interaction within the channel. The tectonically oversteepened northern slope of the basin (ca 2 to 3°) developed a regionally important erosional surface, the Northern Slope Unconformity, which can be traced seismically for >100 km in an east–west direction and >20 km from the channel to the north. The slope preserves numerous gullies sourced from the north that eroded into the channel belt. These gullies were ca 20 km long, <1 km wide and ca 200 m deep. As the channel aggraded, largely inactive and empty gullies served as entry points into the overbank area for turbidity currents within the axial channel. Subsequently, debris‐flow mounds, 7 km wide and >15 km long, plugged and forced the main channel to step abruptly ca 7 km to the south. This resulted in development of an abrupt turn in the channel pathway that propagated to the east and probably played a role in forming a sinuous channel later. As debris‐flow topography was healed, flows spread out onto narrow area between the main channel and northern slope forming a broad fine‐grained apron that serves as the main gas reservoir in this area. This model of the overbank splay formation and the resulting stratigraphic architecture within the confined basin could be applied in modern and ancient systems or for subsurface hydrocarbon reservoirs where three‐dimensional seismic‐reflection data is limited. This study elucidates the geomorphology of the oversteepened slope of the under‐riding plate and its effects on the sedimentation.     

广东省应大力发展海洋牧场

综述了我国及广东省十多年来鱼虾种苗人工放流及人工鱼礁的投放情况，结合广东省广大海区的水温、盐度、ｐＨ值、海流、营养盐含量情况及天然饵料的种类、分布等，提出了除在大亚湾已设置了水产增殖站以外，还应该在广东东部的南澳和西部的湛江各设一个增殖站，会收到更大的效果。人工鱼礁应总结过去投放的经验，加强礁区管理，逐步解决投资与收益的关系问题，并进一步扩大投放人工鱼礁的地点和密度，把广东海区切实建成理想的海洋牧场。     

甘南毕家山铅锌矿床地质特征与成因

该矿床由两种类型矿化组成:(1)与所谓“微石英岩”密切共生的成层碎屑矿;(2)层状矿下伏石灰岩顶部的网脉矿。矿石硫化物在同位素组成上与围岩中的黄铁矿显然不同,其δ~(34)S值( 15至 18)表明可能是海水来源的,由海水硫酸离子在较高温度下无机还原而成。矿石中的碳酸盐矿物以较低的δ~(13)C和较高的δ~(18)O值不同于围岩石灰岩,前者表明可能有深成碳参加,后者表明成矿流体可能在较高温度下与硅酸盐岩石达到了同位素平衡。氧化硅的δ~(18)O值很重,落入海相燧石的变化范围。区域内没有火山活动的确切证据,以海水来源为主的成矿流体可能是沿分开不同地层小区的区域性断裂循环并被加热的。     

Preliminary evaluation of the occurrence of herbicides and PAHs in the Wet Tropics region of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, using passive samplers

The proximity of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) Marine Park to areas of intensive agriculture and increasing urbanisation places the park under potential threat of contamination by land-based pollutants. Passive samplers were deployed at inshore reef and river mouth sites in the Wet Tropics region of the GBR during a dry and a wet season to measure levels of land-based organic pollutants in this environment. Two types of passive sampling devices were deployed: (i) a polar sampler, which can be used to monitor polar herbicides and (ii) semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) which sequester more hydrophobic compounds (e.g. PAHs, chlorpyrifos). Herbicides (diuron, simazine, atrazine, hexazinone and/or flumeturon) were detected at low concentrations (ng L⁻¹) at all sites sampled and in both seasons. Chlorpyrifos was not detected while PAHs were present in SPMDs at levels below limits of detection. The results show that the GBR environment does contain low levels of organic pollutants and that passive sampling provides a sensitive monitoring tool for measuring waterborne organic pollutants.     

Survival under chronic stress from sediment load: spatial patterns of hard coral communities in the southern islands of Singapore

Six reef sites were chosen along the west coasts of Singapore's southern islands, to: (1) quantitatively assess and compare coral community composition and structure, and recruitment rates, (2) assess the relationship between the aforementioned patterns and the environmental conditions, and (3) provide insights on potential processes that incorporate history at these study sites. Chronic exposure to high sediment load was the most obvious form of anthropogenic stress. Recruitment rates on ceramic tiles were low (1.4+/-1.0-20+/-14.7 recruits m(-2)year(-1)) but decreased towards the main island of Singapore as did hard coral cover and coral density. Coral fauna consisted of genera generally found in deeper waters (e.g., fungiids, foliose Oxypora, Leptoseris, and Echinopora) or those well adapted to turbid waters (e.g., Porites, Pectinia, Leptastrea, Montipora). Light extinction coefficient (K) and % live coral cover (%LCC) showed a strong and inverse curvilinear relationship (%LCC=13.60 *K(-3.40)). Similarly, the rate of sediment deposition (DFSPM) (Recruitment rate, RR=1.51-0.17 *DFSPM) and water clarity (RR=3.56-2.92 *K) exhibited strong and inverse relationships with recruitment rates. Although measured levels of the down-ward flux of suspended particulate matter and suspended solids were well within "normal" levels recorded in the literature, it was the proportion of benthic space, generic coral composition, and site history that offered compelling evidence of chronic exposure to increased sediment load. Clearly a reduction in both water clarity and live-coral cover has taken place since monitoring efforts began in the early 1970s, in fact coral cover has more than halved at all sites examined since the 1980s and benthic space was predominantly occupied by dead corals covered with sediment and filamentous algae.