• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.219-228
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• 2012

Tintinnid species distribution has been monitored in the northern East China Sea (ECS) in the summer of 2006 through 2011. This is used to understand the water mass movements in the northern ECS. The warm oceanic tintinnid species had largely spread in 2007 in the area, indicating that there was greater warm water extension into the northern ECS. However the extension of neritic water within the Changjiang diluted water mass has strengthened in 2008 and 2010 because the neritic species distribution had relatively grown in both years. These annual results based on the biological indicators of tintinnid species are well matched with the salinity change in the area. The warm oceanic species, Dadayiella ganymedes had frequently occurred over the study years and had shown a significant relationship with the salinity change. This is valuable as a key stone species for monitoring the intrusion of the Kuroshio within the northern ECS. Information from tintinnid biological indicators can support physical oceanography data to confirm ambiguous water mass properties.

• Journal of the korean society of oceanography
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.187-195
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• 2002

The characteristics of surface circulation in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea are discussed by analyzing a great deal of current data observed by 142 sets of mooring buoy and 58 sets of drifters trajectories collected in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea through domestic and abroad measurements. Some major features are demonstrated as bellow: 1) Tsushima Warm Current flows away from the Kuroshio and has multiple sources in warm half year and comes only from Kuroshio surface water in cold half year. 2) Taiwan Warm Current comes mainly from the Taiwan Strait Water in warm half year and comes from the intruded Kuroshio surface water and branches near 27N in cold half year. 3) The Changjiang Diluted Water turns towards Cheju Island in summer and flows southward along the coastal line in winter. 4) The study sea area is an eddy developing area, especially in the southern area of Cheju Island and northern area of Taiwan.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.193-204
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• 2007

In order to find out the annual variations in the marine ecosystem of the East China Sea, temperature, salinity, nutrients, chlorophyll-a, suspended solids, and suspended particulate organic carbon were extensively investigated in the northern East China Sea during the Summer of 2003 and 2006. During the Summer of 2003, the northern East China Sea was not significantly affected by the input of fresh waters from the Changjiang River. During the Summer of 2006, however, fresh waters of the Changjiang River intruded into the western part of the study area where temperature, nitrate, and phosphate in the surface waters were higher than in the other areas, and salinity, silicate, and suspended solids in the surface waters were lower. As a result of the increase in nitrate and phosphate concentrations, concentrations of chlorophyll-a and suspended particulate organic carbon increased in the western part compared with the other areas. However, the depth-integrated chlorophyll-a concentrations measured during the Summer of 2003 were rather similar to those during the Summer of 2006, and not considerably different from those measured in the East China sea during the Summer of 1994 and 1998. Therefore, the depth-integrated chlorophyll-a concentrations have not significantly changed in the East China Sea over the last 12 years. The lower concentrations of silicate and suspended solids in the western part may be related to construction of the Three-Gorges Dam since the concentrations of silicate and suspended solids in fresh waters of the Changjiang River have significantly decreased after construction of the Three-Gorges Dam in June 2003.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.505-515
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• 2020

The Yellow Sea and northern East China Sea contain a transgressive sand layer. Numerous sedimentary studies have been carried out in these sand deposits using seismic exploration and core sediment techniques, but few mineralogical studies have been reported. The major purposes of this study are to describe the distributions of heavy minerals throughout the Yellow sea and northern East China Sea and to identify the provenance of coarse sediments using the mineral chemistry. Eight heavy mineral species were identified in the study area (epidote, amphibole, garnet, zircon, sphene, rutile, apatite, and monazite). The study region was divided into six areas (areas A to F) based on heavy mineral distributions and sampling locations. In mineral chemistry, the amphiboles present are classified as edenite and hornblende in the calcic amphibole group, and the garnets are identified primarily as almandine in the pyralspite group. A combined data set of heavy mineral distributions and mineral chemistry showed clear differentiation of the characteristics of the six classified areas, enabling determination of provenance and sedimentary environment. Area A and B in the eastern Yellow Sea were originated from the Korean peninsula, and these regions showed different heavy mineral characteristics by tidal current and coastal current. In addition, monazite was only found in the area B and could be used as an indicator from the southwestern Korean peninsula. Area D and E in the western Yellow Sea showed the characteristics of sediments originating from the Huanghe, and sediment in the area E was derived from the Changjiang. Area C in the northern East China Sea appeared to have Changjiang-origin sediment, and abundant apatite indicated that area C was formed close to the Last Glacial Maximum.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.219-229
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• 2009

In order to establish annual variations in the marine ecosystem of the East China Sea, suspended solids (SSs) and particulate organic carbon (POC) were extensively investigated in the northern part of the East China Sea from August 2003 to April 2008. Surface SS concentrations showed large spatial variations in spring and fall, but not in summer. Surface SS concentrations in spring were lower than those in summer and fall. In summer, SSs discharged from Changjiang were mostly deposited in the coastal areas and did not reach our study area which was located about 260 km from the river mouth. High SS concentrations were observed near the bottom, which resulted from resuspension of bottom sediments by the bottom currents. Surface POC concentrations did not exhibited large seasonal variations. Phytoplankton biomass was a main factor controlling surface POC concentrations. POC/chlorophyll ratios showed large seasonal variations, with maximum numbers in summer. POC/PON ratios were higher in summer than the Redefied ratio (6.6), while they were lower in spring and fall. In summer, higher POC/chlorophyll and POC/PON ratios were probably attributed to the high phytoplankton mortality caused by nutrient depletion in surface waters.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.351-359
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• 2010

This study examined extensive patches of floating green macroalgal (Ulva prolifera) mats in the northern East China Sea (ECS) using satellite images from mid May through July 2008 and field observation made during early August 2008 cruise. It was previously reported that the massive macroalgal blooms occurred in the coastal areas of Qingdao in China. During our field survey, researchers noticed widely distributed floating patches of macroalgal mats ranging in size from tens of centimeters to a few hundred meters in diameter. Meteorological data in the northern ECS showed high irradiance, high air-temperature, and predominant southerly winds in summer. In the study area during the survey period, surface waters were characterized by the Changjiang Diluted Water (CDW) mass, which contained high concentrations of nitrate and phosphate. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence of U. prolifera found in the northern ECS was the same as those of U. prolifera sampled from Qingdao blooms, suggesting a possibility that U. prolifera found in two regions would be derived from the same origin. We suggest that U. prolifera in the nearshore Jiangsu Province drifted into the northern ECS and proliferated under favorable meteorological and oceanographic conditions during the summer of 2008.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.135-147
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• 2011

Zooplankton is an important constituent in assessing ecosystem responses to global warming. The northern East China Sea is an important ecosystem for carbon cycling with a net sink of carbon dioxide. Despite their importance as a major component in carbon cycling, relatively little is known about zooplankton biomass structure and its regulating factors in the northern East China Sea. This study examined zooplankton biomass distribution pattern in the region from multiple cruises encompassing various seasons between 2004 and 2009. Results showed that zooplankton biomass exhibits less cross-shelf gradient in general with declining biomass to the eastern shelf towards the Tsushima Current Water. Size-fractionated biomass showed that the 1.0~2.0 mm size group, mostly copepods, dominated zooplankton biomass, comprising 38 to 48% of total biomass. Smaller zooplankton (0.2~1.0 mm) biomass, consisting mainly of Paracalanus spp, a particle eating herbivorous copepod, was positively related to chlorophyll-a concentration, but no relationship was established for larger zooplankton (1.0~5.0 mm). Spatially-averaged mean total zooplankton biomass was also highly related to chlorophyll-a concentration. These result suggest that the long-term trend of zooplankton biomass increase in this region is partly accounted for by the increases of phytoplankton biomass and productivity underway in the region. However, the underlying mechanisms of how sea surface warming in the study area leads to increased phytoplankton biomass and productivity remains unclear.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.251-263
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• 2005

In order to study changes in the marine ecosystem of the East China Sea derived by the global warming and construction of the Three Gorges Dam in the middle of the Changjiang, temperature, salinity, nutrients, and chlorophyll-a were studied intensively in the northern part of the East China Sea during the summer of 2003 and spring of 2004. According to the previous studies, the upwelling of the Kuroshio Current and the Changjiang resulted in a major inputs of nutrients in the East China Sea, but these two inputs may not contribute gently to a build up of nutrients in the northern East China Sea. In spring, relatively high concentrations of nitrates and phosphates were observed in the western part of the study area, which resulted from the supply of high concentrations of nutrients showing up in the surface waters as a result of vertical mixing from the ocean bottom. The concentrations of nitrates and phosphates observed in summer were lower than those in spring, since the surface waters were well stratified by the larger discharge of fresh water from the Changjiang in summer. The surface nitrate/phosphate ratios ranged from 1.3 to 16 in spring and from 1.1 to 15 in summer and were lower than the Redfield ratio of 16, indicating that the growth of phytoplankton is limited by nitrogen. This results are contrary to the previous results, in which the growth of phytoplankton was limited by phosphate in the East China Sea. The reason for this contrary result is that most nutrients in the surface waters are supplied by vertical mixing from the bottom waters with low nitrate/phosphate ratios, not directly influenced by the Changjiang with high nitrate/phosphate ratios. The depth-integrated chlorophyll observed in summer was similar to the previous results, but those measured in spring were almost twice as high as those found in previous results. The depth-integrated chlorophyll in spring was higher than that of summer, which results from high concentrations of nitrates and phosphates in the surface waters in spring due to active vertical mixing.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.267-275
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• 2011

The common squid Todarodes pacificus is an ecologically and commercially important species in Korea and Japan. However, the distribution pattern of its eggs and larvae in Korean waters has not yet been clarified. To determine the horizontal and temporal distribution of common squid larvae in the northern East China Sea, samples collected using paired, 60 cm diameter Bongo nets from the three surveys conducted in August 2003, May 2004 and November 2005 were examined. In addition, the vertical distribution was examined from the samples collected using a $1\;m^2$ MOCNESS in April 1999 (20 m interval down to 100 m). A total of 218 larvae ranging in mantle length (ML) from 1.2 to 17.0 mm were counted at 27 stations. Larval abundance was highest in May 2004. The larvae mainly occurred in the southeastern area of Jeju Island, where the water temperature and salinity at 50 m deep ranged from $15-23^{\circ}C$ and 34-34.6 psu, respectively. Most larvae were collected in the frontal zone, where the Tsushima Warm Current and inshore waters meet. The results from the MOCNESS samples showed that the larvae occurred mostly in 20-80 m depth ranges (about 90%), although collections were only conducted above 100 m. No significant differences in larval mantle lengths (ANOVA, P>0.05) were found among each depth interval. Given the occurrence sites of the larvae <2.0 mm ML, the spawning ground of this species appears to be within the northern East China Sea, mainly to the southeast and northeast of Jeju Island, in early spring.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.19-28
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• 2012

In order to understand the spatial distribution of picocyanobacterial diversity during the summer in the northern East China Sea (ECS), their abundance and genetic diversity were investigated using flow cytometry and barcoded amplicon pyrosequencing of 16S-23S internal transcribed spacer sequences. Synechococcus abundance was high, with a range of $0.2{\times}10^5$ to $1.8{\times}10^5$ cells $ml^{-1}$. However, Prochlorococcus were found only in the eastern part of the studied area, showing a marked variation among stations [range of n.d. (not detected) to $3.3{\times}10^4$ cells $ml^{-1}$]. Eleven Synechococcus clades and five Prochlorococcus ecotypes were found to have a proportion higher than 1% among picocyanobacterial sequences, indicating high picocyanobacterial diversity in the ECS. The picocyanobacterial compositions were markedly different among stations, as well as among depths. Inflow of the Tsushima Warm Current and Changjiang diluted water was of primary importance in determining picocyanobacterial lineage diversity in the studied area. In addition, light intensity and nutrient conditions also appeared to be important in the vertical and horizontal distribution of picocyanobacterial diversity.