Mechanisms of low-frequency sea level fluctuations in the Hangzhou Bay

-low-frequency sea level fluctuations in the Hangzhou Bay in winter and summer, 1973-1974 are analyzed in this paper. The established multi-spectrum response models effectively identify the different dynamical factors and their contributions to the low-frequency sea level fluctuations inside the bay. The results show that the Ekman transport due to longshore winds is the major mechanism to induce the sea level fluctuations, more important than the frictional effect of local winds. There also exists obviously the influental effect of the free fluctuations of the continental shelf. In addition ,a simple estimation suggests that the remarkable sea level fluctuation of 0. 4 d-1 in the bay is related to the resonance of the Huanghai Sea and the Bohai Sea (taken as a single bay).

Expansion of the South China Sea basin:Constraints from magnetic anomaly stripes,sea floor topography,satellite gravity and submarine geothermics

The widely distributed E-W-trending magnetic anomaly stripes in the central basin and the N-Etrending magnetic anomaly stripes in the southwest sub-basin provide the most important evidence for Neogene expansion of the South China Sea.The expansion mechanism remains,however,controversial because of the lack of direct drilling data,non-systematic marine magnetic survey data,and irregular magnetic anomaly stripes with two obvious directions.For example,researchers have inferred different ages and episodes of expansion for the central basin and southwest sub-basin.Major controversy centers on the order of basinal expansion and the mechanism of expansion for the entire South China Sea basin.This study attempts to constrain these problems from a comprehensive analysis of the seafloor topography,magnetic anomaly stripes,regional aeromagnetic data,satellite gravity,and submarine geothermics.The mapped seafloor terrain shows that the central basin is a north-south rectangle that is relatively shallow with many seamounts,whereas the southwest sub-basin is wide in northeast,gradually narrows to the southwest,and is relatively deeper with fewer seamounts.Many magnetic anomaly stripes are present in the central basin with variable dimensions and directions that are dominantly EWtrending,followed by the NE-,NW- and NS-trending.Conversely such stripes are few in the southwest sub-basin and mainly NE-trending.Regional magnetic data suggest that the NW-trending Ailaoshan-Red River fault extends into the South China Sea,links with the central fault zone in the South China Sea,which extends further southward to Reed Tablemount.Satellite gravity data show that both the central basin and southwest sub-basin are composed of oceanic crust.The Changlong seamount is particularly visible in the southwest sub-basin and extends eastward to the Zhenbei seamount.Also a low gravity anomaly zone coincides with the central fault zone in the sub-basin.The submarine geothermic distribution demonstrates that the southwest sub-basin has a higher geothermal value than the central basin,and that the central fault zone is defined by a low thermal anomaly.This study suggests that NW-SE expansion of the southwest subbasin is later than the N-S expansion of the central basin with the sub-basin extending into the central basin and with both expansions ending at the same time.The expansion of southwestern sub-basin,similar to the Japanese Sea,is likely caused by left-lateral strike slip on the central fault zone in the South China Sea,which may have significance for finding oil and gas in this region.

Summer Arctic sea fog

Synchronous or quasi-synchronous sea-land-air observations were conducted using advanced sea ice, atmospheric and marine instruments during China's First Arctic Expedition. Expedition.Based on the Precious data from the expedition, it was found that in the Arctic Ocean, most part of which is covered with ice or is mixed with ice, various kinds of sea fog formed such as advection fog, radiation fog and vapor fog. Each kind he its own characteristic and mechanics of creation. In the southern part of the Arctic Ocean, due to the sufficient warm and wet flow there, it is favorable for advection fog to form, which is dense and lasts a long time. On ice cap or vast floating ice, due to the strong radiation cooling effect, stable radiating fog is likely to form. In floating ice area there forms vapor fog with the appearance of masses of vapor from a boiling pot, which is different from short-lasting land fog. The study indicates that the reason why there are many kinds of sea fog form in the Arctic Ocean is because of the complicated cushion and the consequent sea-air interaction caused by the sea ice distribution and its unique physical characteristics. Sea fog is the atmospheric phenomenon of sea-air heat exchange. Especially, due to the high albedo of ice and snow surface, it is diffcult to absorb great amount of solar radiation during the polar days. Besides, ice is a poor conductor of heat; it blocks the sea-air heat exchange. The sea-air exchange is active in floating ice area where the ice is broken. The sea sends heat to the atmosphere in form of latent heat; vapor fog is a way of sea-air heat exchange influencing the climate and an indicator of the extent of the exchange. The study also indicates that the sea also transports heat to the atmosophere in form of sensible heat when vapor fog occurs.