One century record of contamination by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polychlorinated biphenyls in core sediments from the southern Yellow Sea

Sixteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons （PAHs） and 28 polychlorinated biphenyls （PCBs） were measured at a 2-cm interval in a core sample from the middle of the southern Yellow Sea for elucidating their historical variations in inflow and sources. The chronology was obtained using the ^210Pb method. PAHs concentrations decreased generally with depth and two climax values occurred in 14-16 cm and 20-22 cm layers, demonstrating that the production and usage of PAHs might reach peaks in the periods of 1956-1962 and 1938-1944. The booming economy and the navy battles of the Second World War might explain why the higher levels were detected in the two layers. The result of principal component analysis （PCA） revealed that PAHs were primarily owing to the combustion product. Down-cored variation of PCB concentrations was complex. Higher concentrations besides the two peaks being the same as PAHs were detected from 4 to 8 cm, depositing from 1980 to 1992, which probably resulted from the disposal of the out-dated PCB-containing equipment. The average Cl percentage of PCBs detected was similar to that of the mixture of Aroclor 1254 and 1242, suggesting they might origin from the dielectrical and heat-transfer fluid. The total organic carbon （TOC） content played a prevalent role in the adsorption of high molecular weight PAHs （≥ring）, while no obvious relationship among total PCBs, the concentration of congeners, and TOC was found.

Trophic interactions, ecosystem structure and function in the southern Yellow Sea

The southem Yellow Sea is an important fishing ground, providing abundant fishery resources. However, overfishing and climate change have caused a decline in the resource and damaged the ecosystem. We developed an ecosystem model to analyze the trophic interactions and ecosystem structure and function to guide sustainable development of the ecosystem. Atrophic mass-balance model of the southern Yellow Sea during 2000-2001 was constructed using Ecopath with Ecosim software. We defined 22 important functional groups and studied their diet composition. The trophic levels of fish, shrimp, crabs, and cephalopods were between 2.78 and 4.39, and the mean trophic level of the fisheries was 3.24. The trophic flows within the food web occurred primarily in the lower trophic levels. The mean trophic transfer efficiency was 8.1%, of which 7.1% was from primary producers and 9.3% was from detritus within the ecosystem. The transfer efficiency between trophic levels II to III to IV to V to 〉V was 5.0%, 5.7%, 18.5%, and 19.7%-20.4%, respectively. Of the total flow, phytoplankton contributed 61% and detritus contributed 39%. Fishing is defined as a top predator within the ecosystem, and has a negative impact on most commercial species. Moreover, the ecosystem had a high gross efficiency of the fishery and a high value of primary production required to sustain the fishery. Together, our data suggest there is high fishing pressure in the southern Yellow Sea. Based on analysis of Odum＇s ecological parameters, this ecosystem was at an immature stage. Our results provide some insights into the structure and development of this ecosystem.

Influence of Sea Surface Temperature on Outbreak of Ulva prolifera in the Southern Yellow Sea,China

In this study,using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS)satellite images and environmental satellite CCD images,the spatio-temporal distribution of Ulva prolifera in the southern Yellow Sea during the period of 2011–2018 was extracted and combined with MODIS Level3 Photosynthetically Active Radiation(PAR)product data and Earth System Research Laboratory(ESRL)Sea Surface Temperature(SST)data to analyze their influences on the growth and outbreak of Ulva prolifera.The following conclusions were drawn:1)comprehensive analysis of Ulva prolifera distribution during the eight-year period revealed that the coverage area of Ulva prolifera typically exhibited a gradually increasing trend.The coverage area of Ulva prolifera reached a maximum of approximately 1714.21 km^2 during the eight-year period in late June 2015.The area affected by Ulva prolifera fluctuated.In mid-July 2014,the area affected by Ulva prolifera reached a maximum of approximately 39020.63 km^2.2)The average growth rate of Ulva prolifera was positive in May and June but negative in July.During the outbreak of Ulva prolifera,the SST in the southern Yellow Sea tended to increase each month.The SST anomaly and average growth rate of Ulva prolifera were positively correlated in May(R^2=0.62),but not significantly correlated in June or July.3)The variation trends of PAR and SST were approximately the same,and the PAR during this time period maintained a range of 40–50 mol/(m^2·d),providing sufficient illumination for the growth and outbreak of Ulva prolifera.In addition,the abundant nutrients and suitable temperature in the sea area near northern Jiangsu shoal resulted in a high growth rate of Ulva prolifera in May.In summary,the outbreak of Ulva prolifera was closely related to the environmental factors including SST,nutrients,and PAR.Sufficient nutrients and suitable temperatures resulted in a fast growth rate of Ulva prolifera.However,under poor nutrient conditions,even more suitable temperatures were not sufficient to trigger an outbreak of Ulva prolifera.

Reanalysis of the Atmospheric Flux of Nutrient Elements to the Southern Yellow Sea and the East China Sea

Based on the recent research results on dry and wet deposition of nutrient elements and sulphate, we estimate the atmospheric flux of nutrient elements and sulphate to the southern Yellow Sea and the East China Sea in each season. The results suggest that the concentrations of nutrient elements and sulphate in aerosol and precipitation show an apparent seasonal cycle with the maximum values in winter and the minimum values in summer. Depositions of nitrate and sulphate are dominated by wet deposition, while the deposition for phosphate is mainly dry deposition. Moreover, compared with the riverine inputs, the atmospheric deposition may be the main source of dissolved inorganic nutrients in the southern Yellow Sea and the East China Sea.

Current observations in the southern Yellow Sea in summer

Current data from three moored Acoustic Doppler Profilers (ADPs) deployed in the southern Yellow Sea at sites A (1-24.17°E, 34.82°N), B (122.82°E, 35.65°N) in summer 2001 and site C (120.85°E, 34.99°N) in summer 2003 were analyzed in this paper. Features of the tidal and residual currents were studied with rotary spectral and cross-spectral methods. Main achievements were as follows: 1) Tides dominated the currents. At sites A and B, the semidiurnal tidal current was basically homogeneous in the whole depth, taking a clockwise rotation at site A, and near-rectilinear counterclockwise rotation at site B; while the diurnal tidal current was strong and clockwise near the surface, but decreased and turned counterclockwise with depth; at site C, semidiurnal tidal current dominated and diurnal current took the second, both of which were counterclockwise and vertically homogeneous. Inertial motion contributed to the clockwise component of diurnal fluctuations; 2) The 3-5d fluctuation of residual current was found at site C and attributed to the response of current to meridional wind, with a lag time of approximately 1.8d; 3) Mean residual flows at sites A and B in 2001 probably suggested an anticyclonic inner circulation in the middle of the southern Yellow Sea in summer.

Temporal variations of dimethylsulfide and dimethylsulfoniopropionate in the southern Yellow Sea in spring and autumn

Temporal distributions of dimethylsulfide（DMS） and dimethylsulfoniopropionate（DMSP） were studied in the southern Yellow Sea（SYS） during April and September 2010. The mean concentrations（range） of DMS, dissolved and particulate DMSP（DMSPd and DMSPp） in the surface waters in spring are 1.69（0.48–4.92）, 3.18（0.68–6.75）and 15.81（2.82–52.33） nmol/L, respectively, and those in autumn are 2.80（1.33–5.10）, 5.45（2.19–11.30） and 30.63（6.24–137.87） nmol/L. On the whole, the distributions of DMS and DMSP in spring are completely different from those in autumn. In the central part of the SYS, the concentrations of DMS and DMSP in spring are obviously higher than those in autumn, but the opposite situation is found on the south of 34°N, which can be attributed to the differences in nutrients and phytoplankton biomass and composition between spring and autumn. Besides,the seasonal variations of water column stability and the Changjiang diluted water also have significant impact on the distributions of DMS and DMSP in spring and autumn on the south of 34°N. DMS and DMSPp concentrations coincide well with chlorophyll a（Chl a） levels in the spring cruise, suggesting that phytoplankton biomass may play an important role in controlling the distributions of DMS and DMSPp in the study area. Annual DMS emission rates range from 0.015 to 0.033 Tg/a（calculated by S）, respectively, using the equations of Liss and Merlivat（1986） and Wanninkhof（1992）. This result implies a significant relative contribution of the SYS to the global oceanic DMS fluxes.

Rotary spectrum analysis of tidal current in the southern Yellow Sea

A complete set of one-month Acoustic Doppler Profiler (ADP) current data at a station in the southern Yellow Sea (SYS) is analyzed using the rotary spectrum method. The results revealed different rotary properties between barotropic and baroclinic tidal currents. The barotropic and baroclinic tidal currents rotate elliptically counter-clockwise and clockwise, respectively. Meanwhile, baroclinic bottom tidal currents are almost along-isobath. The baroclinic cross-isobath velocities attenuate quickly at the bottom, implying important effects of bottom topography on the cross-isobath motions.

Grain-size related nitrogen distribution in southern Yellow Sea surface sediments

Forty-eight surface sediments of the southern Yellow Sea are separated into three grain-size frac- tions. Four forms of extractable nitrogen (nitrogen in ion-exchangeable form (Nie), nitrogen in weak-acid ex- tractable form (Nwa), nitrogen in strong-alkali extractable form (Nsa) and nitrogen in strong-oxidant form (Nso)) are obtained by the sequential extraction. The results show that the contents and the distributions of the extract- able nitrogen in the southern Yellow Sea surface sediments are closely related to sediment grain size. The distri- butions of Nie, Nso and total nitrogen (TN) present positive correlations with fine particles content, while Nwa and Nsa does not have such correlation. The net contents of all the forms of nitrogen increase with sediment grain size finer.