MARINE BIOFOULING IN OFFSHORE AREAS SOUTH OF HAINAN ISLAND, NORTHERN SOUTH CHINA SEA

This study on the characteristics of fouling communities in offshore areas south of Hainan Island, northern South China Sea, was conducted at four sites there. At each station, test panels on iron frames were hung on the mooring system at different depths. Data on biofouling were mainly obtained by examination of the fouled test panels. Organisms attached to buoys and anchors were scraped off and examined also. The results showed that the thickness and biomass of marine growth that increased the fluid loading on offshore installations depended to a large extent on hard foulers, i.e. mollusks and acorn barnacles. Algae, hydroids, stalked barnacles and bryozoans were important fouling species. The occurrence frequency and biomass of acorn barnacles decreased with increasing distance from the shore.

Application of the monitoring and early warning system for internal solitary waves:Take the second natural gas hydrates production test in the South China Sea as an example

Internal solitary waves(ISWs) contain great energy and have the characteristics of emergency and concealment. To avoid their damage to offshore engineering, a new generation of monitoring and early warning system for ISWs was developed using technologies of double buoys monitoring, intelligent realtime data transmission, and automatic software identification. The system was applied to the second natural gas hydrates(NGHs) production test in the Shenhu Area, South China Sea(SCS) and successfully provided the early warning of ISWs for 173 days(from October 2019 to April 2020). The abrupt changes in the thrust force of the drilling platform under the attack of ISWs were consistent with the early warning information, proving the reliability of this system. A total of 93 ISWs were detected around the drilling platform. Most of them occurred during the spring tides in October–December 2019 and April 2020, while few of them occurred in winter. As suggested by the theoretical model, the full-depth structure of ISWs was a typical current profile of mode-1, and the velocities of wave-induced currents can reach 80 cm/s and30 cm/s, respectively, in the upper ocean and near the seabed. The ISWs may be primarily generated from the interactions between the topography and semidiurnal tides in the Luzon Strait, and then propagate westward to the drilling platform. This study could serve as an important reference for the early warning of ISWs for offshore engineering construction in the future.

Prediction of Scour Depth around Offshore Pipelines in the South China Sea

Scour depth prediction of offshore pipelines is of great significance to the design and construction of the submarine pipeline projects. In this paper, based on the CFD software package FLUENT and User Defined Function （UDF）, an Eulerian two-phase model, which includes an Euler-Euler coupled model for water and sediment phases, and a turbulent model for the fluid phase, is adopted to predict the scour depth around pipelines. The model is verified by observation data obtained from laboratory experiments. On the basis of the simulations, the factors affecting the scour depth, including the effects of incipient velocity, pipe diameter and sediment particle size and so on, were investigated. Meanwhile, according to formulas of incipient velocity of various sediments, approximate calculation on theoretical scour depths is developed for pipelines of seven stations in the South China Sea, where engineering application information is available.

Relationship between the Extent of Igneous Rocks and Deep Structures as Determined by Gravitational and Magnetic Data in the South China Sea

The distribution of oil and gas resources in the South China Sea and adjacent areas is closely related to the structural pattern that helped to define the controlling effect of deep processes on oil-bearing basins.Igneous rocks can record important information from deep processes.Deep structures such as faults,basin uplift and depression,Cenozoic basement and magnetic basement are all the results of energy exchange within the earth.The study of the relationship between igneous rocks and deep structures is of great significance for the study of the South China Sea.By using the minimum curvature potential field separation technique and the correlation analysis technique of gravitational and magnetic anomalies,the fusion of gravitational and magnetic data reflecting igneous rocks can be obtained,through which the igneous rocks with high susceptibility/high density or high susceptibility/low density can be identified.In this study area,igneous rocks do not develop in the Yinggehai basin,Qiongdongnan basin,Zengmu basin and Brunei-Sabah basin whilst igneous rocks with high susceptibility/high density or high susceptibility/low density are widely-developed in other basins.In undeveloped igneous areas,faults are also undeveloped the Cenozoic thickness is greater,the magnetic basement depth is greater and the Cenozoic thickness is highly positively correlated with the magnetic basement depth.In igneously developed regions,the distribution pattern of the Qiongtai block is mainly controlled by primary faults,while the distribution of the Zhongxisha block,Xunta block and Yongshu-Taiping block is mainly controlled by secondary faults,the Cenozoic thickness having a low correlation with the depth of the magnetic basement.

ISOLATION AND STRUCTURE ELUCIDATION OF A NOVEL STEROL FROM THE SOUTH CHINA SEA SPONGE DYSIDEA SP.

A novel and unusual sterol with unsaturation in the△^(5(14)) position,5α-cholesta-8(14),24(25)-diene-3β,6α-diol 1,was isolated from the South China Ses sponge Dysidea sp.The structure and relative stereochemistry of 1 was established by spectral analysis and comparison to the spectral data of known sterols.

A review on the South China Sea western boundary current

The advances in understanding the South China Sea （SCS） western boundary current （SCSwbc） have been reviewed since the works of Dale （1956） and Wyrtki （1961） in the middle of the 20th century. The features of the pattern of SCSwbc and the oceanic phenomena associated with it are focused on. The current is driven mainly by monsoon over the SCS and partially by winds over the tropical Pacific governed by the island rule. The SCSwbc exhibits strong seasonal variation in its direction and patterns. In winter, the current is strong and flows southwestward along the South China shelf and slope from the east of Dongsha Islands to the northern central Vietnamese coast, then turns to the south along the central and southern Vietnamese coast, and finally partially exits the SCS through the Karimata Strait. In summer and early fall, the SCSwbc can be divided into three segments based on their characteristics. The southern segment is stable, flowing northward from the Karimata Strait up to about 11 N, where it separates from the coast forming an eastward offshore current. The separation of the current from Vietnamese coast induces some striking features, such as upwelling and cold sea-surface temperature. The middle segment off the central Vietnamese coast may have a bimodal behavior： northward coastal current and meandering current in early summer （June–July）, and cyclonic gyre in later summer and early fall （August–September）. The northern segment is featured by the summer SCS Warm Current on the South China shelf and a southwestward subsurface current along the continental slope.

Seasonal characteristics and formation mechanism of the thermohaline structure of mesoscale eddy in the South China Sea

The seasonal characteristics and formation mechanism of the thermohaline structure of mesoscale eddy in the South China Sea are investigated using the latest eddy dataset and ARMOR3D data. Eddy-centric composites reveal that the horizontal distribution of temperature anomaly associated with eddy in winter is more of a dipole pattern in upper 50 m and tends to be centrosymmetric below 50 m, while in summer the distribution pattern is centrosymmetric in the entire water column. The horizontal distribution of eddy-induced salinity anomaly exhibits similar seasonal characteristics, except that the asymmetry of the salinity anomaly is weaker. The vertical distribution of temperature anomaly associated with eddy shows a monolayer structure, while the salinity anomaly demonstrates a triple-layer structure. Further analysis indicates that the vertical distribution of the anomalies is related to the vertical structure of background temperature and salinity fields, and the asymmetry of the anomalies in upper 50 m is mainly caused by the horizontal advection of background temperature and salinity.

Mesozoic Deformation and Its Geological Significance in the Southern Margin of the South China Sea

The pre-Eocene history of the region around the present South China Sea is not well known. New multi-channel seismic profiles provide valuable insights into the probable Mesozoic history of this region. Detailed structural and stratigraphic interpretations of the multi-channel seismic profiles, calibrated with relevant drilling and dredging data, show major Mesozoic structural features. A structural restoration was done to remove the Cenozoic tectonic influence and calculate the Mesozoic tectonic compression ratios. The results indicate that two groups of compressive stress with diametrically opposite orientations, S(S)E– N(N)W and N(N)W–S(S)E, were active during the Mesozoic. The compression ratio values gradually decrease from north to south and from west to east in each stress orientation. The phenomena may be related to the opening of the proto-South China Sea(then located in south of the Nansha block) and the rate at which the Nansha block drifted northward in the late Jurassic to late Cretaceous. The Nansha block drifted northward until it collided and sutured with the southern China margin. The opening of the present South China Sea may be related to this suture zone, which was a tectonic zone of weakness.

The Upper Ocean Thermal Structure and the Genesis Locations of Tropical Cyclones in the South China Sea

The relationship between the upper ocean thermal structure and the genesis locations of tropical cyclones (TCs) in the South China Sea (SCS) is investigated by using the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) best-track archives and high resolution (1/4 degree) temperature analyses of the world's oceans in this paper. In the monthly mean genesis positions of TCs from 1945 to 2005 in the SCS, the mean sea surface temperature (SST) was 28.8℃ and the mean depth of 26℃ water was 53.1 m. From the monthly distribution maps of genesis positions of TCs, SST and the depth of 26℃ water in the SCS, we discovered that there existed regions with SST exceeding 26℃ and 26℃ water depth exceeding 50 m where no tropical cyclones formed from 1945 to 2005 in the SCS, which suggests that there were other factors unfavorable for TC formation in these regions.

The winter western boundary current of the South China Sea:physical structure and volume transport in December 1998

The unique survey in December 1998 mapped the entire western boundary area of the South China Sea（SCS）,which reveals the three-dimensional structure and huge volume transport of the swift and narrow winter western boundary current of the SCS（SCSwwbc） in full scale. The current is found to flow all the way from the shelf edge off Hong Kong to the Sunda Shelf with a width around 100 km and a vertical scale of about 400 m. It appears to be the strongest off the Indo-China Peninsula, where its volume transport reached over 20×10~6 m^3/s. The current is weaker upstream in the northern SCS to the west of Hong Kong. A Kuroshio loop or detached eddy intruded through the Luzon Strait is observed farther east where the SCSwwbc no more exists. The results suggest that during the survey the SCSwwbc was fed primarily by the interior recirculation of the SCS rather than by the＂branching＂ of the Kuroshio from the Luzon Strait as indicated by surface drifters, which is likely a near-surface phenomenon and only contributes a minor part to the total transport of the SCSwwbc. Several topics related to the SCSwwbc are also discussed.

A numerical study of the South China Sea Warm Current during winter monsoon relaxation

Using a Finite-Volume Community Ocean Model, we investigated the dynamic mechanism of the South China Sea Warm Current(SCSWC) in the northern South China Sea(NSCS) during winter monsoon relaxation. The model reproduces the mean surface circulation of the NSCS during winter, while model-simulated subtidal currents generally capture its current pattern. The model shows that the current over the continental shelf is generally southwestward, under a strong winter monsoon condition, but a northeastward counter-wind current usually develops between 50-and 100-m isobaths, when the monsoon relaxes. Model experiments, focusing on the wind relaxation process, show that sea level is elevated in the northwestern South China Sea(SCS), related to the persistent northeasterly monsoon. Following wind relaxation, a high sea level band builds up along the mid-shelf, and a northeastward current develops, having an obvious vertical barotropic structure. Momentum balance analysis indicates that an along-shelf pressure gradient provides the initial driving force for the SCSWC during the first few days following wind relaxation. The SCSWC subsequently reaches a steady quasi-geostrophic balance in the cross-shelf direction, mainly linked to sea level adjustment over the shelf. Lagrangian particle tracking experiments show that both the southwestward coastal current and slope current contribute to the northeastward movement of the SCSWC during winter monsoon relaxation.

Analysis and Design of Trial Well Mooring in Deepwater of the South China Sea

Mooring systems play an important role for semi-submersible rigs that drill in deepwater.A detailed analysis was carried out on the mooring of a semi-submersible rig that conducted a trial well drilling at a deepwater location in the South China Sea in 2009.The rig was 30 years old and had a shallow platform with a designed maximum operating water depth of 457 m.Following the mooring analysis,a mooring design was given that requires upgrading of the rig’s original mooring system.The upgrade included several innovations,such as installing eight larger anchors,i.e.replacing the original anchors and inserting an additional 600 m of steel wires with the existing chains.All this was done to enhance the mooring capability of the rig in order for the rig to be held in position to conduct drilling at a water depth of 476 m.The overall duration of the drilling was 50 days and the upgraded mooring system proved to be efficient in achieving the goal of keeping the rig stationary while it was drilling the trial well in the South China Sea.This successful campaign demonstrates that an older semi-submersible rig can take on drilling in deep water after careful design and proper upgrading and modification to the original mooring system.

Deep structural research of the South China Sea: Progresses and directions

The South China Sea(SCS)is the hotspot of geological scientific research and nature resource exploration and development due to the potential for enormous hydrocarbon resource development and a complex formation and evolution process.The SCS has experienced complex geological processes including continental lithospheric breakup,seafloor spreading and oceanic crust subduction,which leads debates for decades.However,there are still no clear answers regarding to the following aspects:the crustal and Moho structure,the structure of the continent-ocean transition zone,the formation and evolution process and geodynamic mechanism,and deep processes and their coupling relationships with the petroliferous basins in the SCS.Under the guidance of the“Deep-Earth”science and technology innovation strategy of the Ministry of Natural Resources,deep structural and comprehensive geological research are carried out in the SCS.Geophysical investigations such as long array-large volume deep reflection seismic,gravity,magnetism and ocean bottom seismometer are carried out.The authors proposed that joint gravitymagnetic-seismic inversion should be used to obtain deep crustal information in the SCS and construct high resolution deep structural sections in different regions of the SCS.This paper systematically interpreted the formation and evolution of the SCS and explored the coupling relationship between deep structure and evolution of Mesozoic-Cenozoic basins in the SCS.It is of great significance for promoting the geosystem scientific research and resource exploration of the SCS.

Structural Variability and Rifting Process of the Segmented Cenozoic Pearl River Mouth Basin,Northern Continental Margin of the South China Sea

The Pearl River Mouth Basin(PRMB)is an important area for studying the evolution of continental marginal basins in the northern South China Sea(SCS),but the structural variability and spatiotemporal rifting process remains poorly understood.This study investigates the differential structural features of the eastern,middle and western PRMB,as well as the extensional deformation laws in operation during the rifting stage,according to an integrated analysis of geometric characteristics and kinematic parameters,i.e.,horizontal displacement and stretching factors of basin and crust.The PRMB underwent at least three phases of intense extension,which varied in time and space.(1)During the middle Eocene,most sags in the PRMB were intensely stretched and high-angle planar to listric boundary faults controlled the wedge-shaped stratigraphic geometry.(2)During the late Eocene-to-early Oligocene,the stratigraphic geometry of the sags was slightly wedge-shaped and continuously controlled by boundary faults,however,the extensional strength decreased relatively in the Northern depression zone,but increased in the Southern depression zone.(3)During the late Oligocene,the extension was extremely weak in the northeast PRMB,but relatively strong in the southwest PRMB,leading to tabular stratigraphic geometry in the northeast PRMB,but localized slightly wedge-shaped stratigraphic geometry in the southwest.The southwest PRMB still underwent relatively strong extension during the early Miocene.The southwest PRMB that was induced by a small-scale localized mantle convection system constantly rifted during the late Oligocene,controlled by the weak lithosphere,westward(southwestward)diachronous opening and southward jump of the ocean ridge.The applied quantitative parameters and spatiotemporal rifting process may be used as a reference with which to study the segmented continental margin rifts.

INVERSION OF TEMPERATURE FROM AMSU-A AND ITS APPLICATION ON WARM-CORE OF TROPICAL DEPRESSION OVER THE SOUTH CHINA SEA

The linear regression and horizontally stepwise correction are conducted on the observational data from AMSU-A L1 B of NOAA polar orbit satellite to invert a 40-layers(from 1,000 h Pa to 0.1 h Pa) dataset of atmospheric temperature with a horizontal resolution of 0.5°×0.5° after the correction of satellite antenna pattern and limb adjustment. Case study shows that the inversion data of temperature can reveal the detail structure of warm core in tropical cyclone. We choose two categories of tropical depressions(TDs) over the South China Sea, including the non-developing TDs and developing TDs. Both of them are developed downward from the middle and upper level to the lower level. Comparison between the evolutions of warm core in the two categories of TDs indicates that the warm core is developed downward from the middle and upper troposphere to the sea surface in all the downward-developing TDs. The difference is that in the group of further developing TDs, the warm core in the upper troposphere is intensified suddenly when it is extending to the sea surface. The warm core in the upper and lower troposphere is strengthened in a meantime. But the similar feature is not observed in the non-developing TDs. Then it may be helpful to judge the TD development by monitoring the change in its warm-core structure.

Fouling in offshore areas southeast of the Zhujiang(Pearl)River Delta,the northern South China Sea

In order to understand the type and extent of marine fouling in offshore areas southeast ofthe Zhujiang (Pearl) River delta, within the period form May 1986 to June 1987, two biological buoys were deployed at water depths of 95 m and 113 m located in 114 km and 160 km off the coast of Hong Kong, respectively. Moreover, the fouling community of a Marex hydrological buoy located in 115 m depth water 172 km off Hong Kong was also surveyed. The results show that a total of 78 species were collected and identified. The panels exposed for 3 months were mainly dominated by stalked barnacles Conchoderma hunteri and Lepas anatifera and hydroids Orthopyxis sp. As for the buoys, including the subsurface buoy, and their mooring systems exposed for 6 and 12 months, respectively, some hard foulers such as common oysters, pearl oysters, acorn barnacles and bryozoans were also found. The compositions of fouling communities also varied greatly with depth.

MARINE FOULING IN OFFSHORE AREAS EAST OF HAINAN ISLAND, NORTHERN SOUTH CHINA SEA

This paper reports on results of the investigation of marine biofouling on offshore structures east of Hainan Island in the northern South China Sea. Two buoy investigation stations were deployed in Qiongdong (W1, 68 n miles offshore) and southern Qiongdong (J2, 23 n miles offshore) waters, respectively. At both sites, water depths were more than 100 meters. Test panels on iron frames were placed at 1, 10, 25, 50 and 100 m below the seawater surface, and exposed for 8 months from October 1989 to June 1990. The results indicated that hydroids, gooseneck barnacles and oysters were the most important fouling species in these offshore areas. Acorn barnacles were mainly found at Station J2. The maximum fouling accumulations were observed in near surface waters. Substantial reduction of biomass and species diversity occurred with increasing depth and distance from shore. Sources of fouling organisms and influences of environmental factors on the species distributions are discussed in this paper.

Experience on offshore cathodic protection retrofitting in the northern South China Sea

Platforms I and II are steel structures located in offshore areas southeast of the Zhujiang (Pearl) River Delta, the northern South China Sea,. in about 110 in water depth. The jackets, with aluminum sacrificial anodes for cathodic protection (CP) of the immersed zone, were launched in March 1995. In May 096 a CP survey showed that, after almost one year of service, a low polarization level had been achieved and some extended unprotected zones existed; mainly in the deepest part of the Platform II. Further to this, a joint activity was decided in order to assess the need of a possible retrofitting of the CP systems. The results of the activity carried out are dealt with, including technical and economical comparisons amongst several retrofitting options, both with sacrificial anodes and with impressed current systems. The adopted solution is illustrated and data are reported on the level of protection presently achieved.

Numerical Analysis and Simulation Experiment of Lithospheric Thermal Structures in the South China Sea and the Western Pacific

The asthenosphere upwelled on a large scale in the western Pacific and South China Sea during the Cenozoic, which formed strong upward throughflow and caused the thermal structure to be changed obviously. The mathematical analysis has demonstrated that the upward throughflow velocity may have varied from 3×10^11 to 6×10^12 m/s. From the relationship between the lithospheric thickness and the conductive heat flux, the lithospheric heat flux in the western Pacific should be above 30 mW/m^2, which is consistent with the observed data. The huge low-speed zone within the upper mantle of the marginal sea in the western Pacific reflects that the upper mantle melts partially, flows regionally in the regional stress field, forms the upward heat flux at its bottom, and causes the change of the lithospheric thermal structure in the region. The numerical simulation result of the expansion and evolution in the South China Sea has demonstrated that in the early expansion, the upward throughflow velocity was relatively fast, and the effect that it had on the thickness of the lithosphere was relatively great,resulting in the mid-ocean basin expanding rapidly. After the formation of the ocean basin in the South China Sea, the upward throughflow velocity decreased, but the conductive heat flux was relatively high, which is close to the actual situation. Therefore, from the heat transfer point of view, this article discusses how the upward heat flux affects the lithospheric thermal structure in the western Pacific and South China Sea. The conclusions show that the upward heat throughflow at the bottom of the lithospheric mantle resulted in the tectonic deformation at the shallow crust. The intensive uplifts and rifts at the crust led to the continent cracks and the expansion in the South China Sea.

Dynamical analysis of submesoscale fronts associated with wind-forced offshore jet in the western South China Sea

This study investigates the submesoscale fronts and their dynamic effects on the mean flow due to frontal instabilities in the wind-driven summer offshore jet of the western South China Sea(WSCS),using satellite observations,a 500 m-resolution numerical simulation,and diagnostic analysis.Both satellite measurements and simulation results show that the submesoscale fronts occupying a typical lateral scale of O(~10)km are characterized with one order of Rossby(Ro)and Richardson(Ri)numbers in the WSCS.This result implies that both geostrophic and ageostrophic motions feature in these submesoscale fronts.The diagnostic results indicate that a net cross-frontal Ekman transport driven by down-front wind forcing effectively advects cold water over warm water.By this way,the weakened local stratification and strong lateral buoyancy gradients are conducive to a negative Ertel potential vorticity(PV)and triggering frontal symmetric instability(SI)at the submesoscale density front.The cross-front ageostrophic secondary circulation caused by frontal instabilities is found to drive an enhanced vertical velocity reaching O(100)m/d.Additionally,the estimate of the down-front wind forcing the Ekman buoyancy flux(EBF)is found to be scaled with the geostrophic shear production(GSP)and buoyancy flux(BFLUX),which are the two primary energy sources for submesoscale turbulence.The large values of GSP and BFLUX at the fronts suggest an efficient downscale energy transfer from larger-scale geostrophic flows to the submesoscale turbulence owing to down-front wind forcing and frontal instabilities.In this content,submesoscale fronts and their instabilities substantially enhance the local vertical exchanges and geostrophic energy cascade towards smaller-scale.These active submesoscale processes associated density fronts and filaments likely provide new physical interpretations for the filamentary high chlorophyll concentration and frontal downscale energy transfer in the WSCS.