Vibrio harveyi, known as a pathogenic bacterium caused severe secondary bacterial infections of the large yellow croaker Larimichthys crocea, was identified as an endosymbiont in the marine parasitic ciliate protozoan Cryptocaryon irritans. Meta 16S sequencing method was used to identify the bacterial flora in C. irritans, and V. harveyi was isolated via culture-dependent method. Vibrio harveyi was observed in cytoplasm of C. irritans at the stage of tomont both by transmission electron microscopy and by Fluorescence in situ hybridization; no signal, however, was detected in nucleus area. The relationship between V. harveyi and C. irritans and the role of endosymbiotic V. harveyi in C. irritans merit further investigation.

Based on our previous work, the winter sea surface temperature (SST) in the Kuroshio Extension (KE) region showed significant variability over the past century with periods of ~6 a between 1930 and 1950 and ~10 a between 1980 and 2009. How the activity of the Aleutian Low (AL) induces this dual-period variability over the two different timespans is further investigated here. For the ~6 a periodicity during 1930–1950, negative wind stress curl (WSC) anomalies in the central subtropical Pacific associated with an intensified AL generate positive sea surface height (SSH) anomalies. When these wind-induced SSH anomalies propagate westwards to the east of Taiwan, China two years later, positive velocity anomalies appear around the Kuroshio to the east of Taiwan and then the mean advection via this current of velocity anomalies leads to a strengthened KE jet and thus an increase in the KE SST one year later. For the ~10 a periodicity during 1980–2009, a negative North Pacific Oscillation-like dipole takes 2–3 a to develop into a significant positive North Pacific Oscillation-like dipole, and this process corresponds to the northward shift of the AL. Negative WSC anomalies associated with this AL activity in the central North Pacific are able to induce the positive SSH anomalies. These oceanic signals then propagate westward into the KE region after 2–3 a, favoring a northward shift of the KE jet, thus leading to the warming of the KE SST. The feedbacks of the KE SST anomaly on the AL forcing are both negative for these two periodicities. These results suggest that the dual-period KE SST variability can be generated by the two-way KE-SST-AL coupling.

The Rhines effect may be regarded as an interaction between Rossby waves and turbulence, in which the Rossby waves may radiate away eddy energy when their frequencies are equal or larger than those of the turbulence, thereby deforming and eventually destroying the existing eddies. Through comparing eddy-scale velocity and long Rossby wave phase speed in the oceans, a generalized form of the Rhines effect is examined on the geographical characteristics of altimeter-observed eddies. The results show that the generalized Rhines effect has a much greater influence on eddy characteristics than its classical form, which only considers the simple beta effect due to the meridional gradient of planetary vorticity. The largest amount of eddies are detected in regions where eddy-scale velocity is larger than the critical Rossby-wave phase speed considering a generalized beta effect. The eddies in those regions can grow via an inverse kinetic energy cascade and have much larger amplitudes and sizes. The “eddy desert” regions outside of the tropical oceans, which have far fewer detected eddies and much weaker eddy amplitudes, lie in areas where the eddy-scale velocity is less than the critical Rossby-wave phase speed. In those regions, the generalized Rhines effect may be a possible mechanism of suppressing eddy growth.

The 21st century “Maritime Silk Road” strategy is a significant part of the belt and road initiatives of China. The cognition and investigation of ocean environment is essential and necessary in these regions which will provide scientific reference for many fields such as navigation, ocean engineering, and disaster prevent and reduction. A high-resolution cross-calibrated multi-platform wind product is used to analyze gales over the Maritime Silk Road. The yearly mean speed and space distribution of gale, and the frequencies and trends of gale and extreme wind speed are analyzed. The results show that relatively high pools of gale are mainly located in the waters of the Arabian Sea, the Somali Sea, Indo-China Peninsula sea area, and Bay of Bengal in the summer. The gale frequency of the Somali Sea is more than 90%. Overall, the gale days increase year by year in the majority of the South China Sea and the northern Indian Ocean, especially in the autumn and the winter.

The radar echo signal of a sea clutter is nonlinear, nonstationary and time varying. A multifractal measure analysis can describe the local singularity of a physics system. The random walk model of a sea clutter scattering is analysed to disclose the intrinsic physical characteristics and laws of the sea clutter. Stochastic differential equations are given for the physical quality of the sea clutter. A diffusion process model is established using $ I t {\mathop o \limits^ \frown } $ formula. The singularity of the random walk model is tested by a multifractal spectroscopy, and the accuracy of this model is proven by the multifractal spectroscopy of a real-life IPIX radar data set. Thus, the random walk model is effective for describing the dynamics mechanism of the sea clutter.

Inverse technique is a widely used method in oceanography, but it has a problem that the retrieved solutions often violate model prior assumptions. To tune the model has consistent solutions, an iteration approach, which successively utilizes the posterior statistics for next round inverse estimation, is introduced and tested from a real case study. It is found that the consistency may become elusive as the determinants of solution and noise covariance matrices become zero in the iteration process. However, after several steps of such operation, the difference between posterior statistics and the model prior ones can be gradually reduced.

The Taixinan Basin is one of the most potential gas hydrate bearing areas in the South China Sea and abundant gas hydrates have been discovered during expedition in 2013. In this study, geochemical and microbial methods are combinedly used to characterize the sediments from a shallow piston Core DH_CL_11 (gas hydrate free) and a gas hydrate-bearing drilling Core GMGS2-16 in this basin. Geochemical analyses indicate that anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) which is speculated to be linked to the ongoing gas hydrate dissociation is taking place in Core DH_CL_11 at deep. For Core GMGS2-16, AOM related to past episodes of methane seepage are suggested to dominate during its diagenetic process; while the relatively enriched δ¹⁸O bulk-sediment values indicate that methane involved in AOM might be released from the “episodic dissociation” of gas hydrate. Microbial analyses indicate that the predominant phyla in the bacterial communities are Firmicutes and Proteobacteria (Gammaproteobacteria and Epsilonproteobacteria), while the dominant taxa in the archaeal communities are Marine_Benthic_Group_B (MBGB), Halobacteria, Thermoplasmata, Methanobacteria, Methanomicrobia, Group C3 and MCG. Under parallel experimental operations, comparable dominant members (Firmicutes and MBGB) are found in the piston Core DH_CL_11 and the near surface layer of the long drilling Core GMGS2-16. Moreover, these members have been found predominant in other known gas hydrate bearing cores, and the dominant of MBGB has even been found significantly related to gas hydrate occurrence. Therefore, a high possibility for the existing of gas hydrate underlying Core DH_CL_11 is inferred, which is consistent with the geochemical analyses. In all, combined geochemical and microbiological analyses are more informative in characterizing sediments from gas hydrate-associated areas in the South China Sea.

Basin modeling has become an important tool for analyzing sedimentary basins. The North Subbasin of the South Yellow Sea Basin is filled with thick Meso-Cenozoic terrigenous deposits during the rift evolution stage. The accumulation of data and achievements of geological investigations in recent years have provided the preconditions for basin modeling. The necessary parameters and geological elements for simulations are collated and summarized. Modeling of tectono-thermal evolution is performed and the related trend in heat flow is reconstructed and calibrated. The heat flow value commences from an average level of 61 mW/m² during Middle-Late Jurassic, rises to about 80 mW/m² from circa 145 Ma to circa 74 Ma, and then undergoes a gradual decline to 65 mW/m² until the end of Oligocene.Three evolutionary phases, namely, the initial rifting phase, syn-rifting phase, and post-rifting phase, have been identified. The modeling results show that the North Subbasin generally enters into a stage of strong rifting during Cretaceous and undergoes rapid subsidence until the Late Cretaceous, then follows by a stage of moderate rifting during the Paleogene. The input and general workflow involved in 3-D modeling are introduced. Reconstruction of the petroleum system in the North Subbasin reveals that the threshold depth of hydrocarbon generation is located near the top of the Paleogene Funing formation, and the underlying Jurassic and Cretaceous source rocks have reached or exceeded peak oil generation and have almost completed the generation and expulsion of hydrocarbons. The main generation and expulsion in the Jurassic source rocks take place during the syn-rifting and post-rifting phases, whereas the peak generation and expulsion in the Cretaceous and Paleogene source rocks take place during the post-rifting phase. Although the study area is still a relatively less explored sedimentary basin, the results of modeling can provide valuable information for exploration. A preliminary discussion of the main uncertainty factors is also presented.

In the past few years, three-dimensional (3-D) seismogram has become an essential tool for the interpretation of subsurface stratigraphy and depositional systems. Seismic stratigraphy in conjunction with seismic geomorphology has elevated the degree to which seismic data can facilitate geological interpretation, especially in a deepwater environment. Technologies such as time slicing and interval attribute analysis can enhance geomorphological interpretations, and, when integrated with stratigraphic analyses, can yield insights regarding distribution of seal and reservoir facies. Multiple attributes corendering can further bring out features of geological interest that other technologies may overlook. This method involves corender spectral decomposition components (SDC) with semblance attributes to describe the distribution of deepwater channel elements and the boundaries of deepwater sinuous channel. Applying this technology to four elements is observed: (1) point-bars, (2) migration of channel meander loops, (3) channel erosion/cut, and (4) avulsion. The planview expression of the deepwater channel ranges from low sinuosity to high sinuosity. Furthermore, this technology has enabled interpreters to visualize details of complex depositional elements and can be used to predict net-to-gross ratio in channel systems, which can be incorporated into borehole planning for exploration as well as development needs to improve risk management significantly. The technology is applied to the study area in an effort to illustrate the variety of interpretation technologies available to the geoscientist.