Changing Biogeochemical and Ecological Dynamics in the South China Sea in Times of Global Change

This research topic explores the environmental and biological processes that influence the global carbon cycle and marine cycling in the South China Sea. Results from this research suggest that:

• Organic carbon metabolism may not be the only factor in determining the sink/source status of CO2 in seagrass meadows.
• Dissolution of particles from the SCS surrounding rivers and continental margins may provide additional Nd to the SCS surface water.
• Deep submerged speleothems are important in the reconstruction of Pleistocene low sea levels.
• Quartz optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and radiocarbon (14C) dating can be used to reconstruct the Holocene sedimentary history of the PRD.
• River discharge and anthropogenic input are important external sources of DOM in the low-salinity nearshore waters.
• Diurnal variability of FRRf-derived parameters is characterized by a large midday depression and slight nocturnal depression of the maximum quantum yield of photosystem II (Fv/Fm).
• Spatial variations in DOC concentrations are influenced by a combination of factors.
• Mangrove species of Avicennia marina, Aegiceras corniculatum and Kandelia obovata have varying levels of resistance to upwelling stress.
• Temperature and salinity are important driving factors for the vertical distribution of chlorophyll.
• Middle Miocene shallow-water contourite depositional system was formed by wind-driven currents and shaped by changes in paleoceanography.
• Productivity of marginal seas (such as the Bering Sea) have higher DSi content in deep waters than adjacent Pacific waters.
• Anoxic conditions were likely the main cause of the extinction in deeper-water settings.
• Temperature and depth are the most important factors to determine the taxonomic distribution of DMSP degradation genes in the Roseobacter.