The current velocity observation of LADCP (Lowered Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler) has the advantages of a large vertical range of observation and high operability compared with traditional current measurement methods, and is being widely used in the field of ocean observation. Shear and inverse methods are now commonly used by the international marine community to process LADCP data and calculate ocean current profiles. The two methods have their advantages and shortcomings. The shear method calculates the value of current shear more accurately, while the accuracy in an absolute value of the current is lower. The inverse method calculates the absolute value of the current velocity more accurately, but the current shear is less accurate. Based on the shear method, this paper proposes a layering shear method to calculate the current velocity profile by “layering averaging”, and proposes corresponding current calculation methods according to the different types of problems in several field observation data from the western Pacific, forming an independent LADCP data processing system. The comparison results have shown that the layering shear method can achieve the same effect as the inverse method in the calculation of the absolute value of current velocity, while retaining the advantages of the shear method in the calculation of a value of the current shear.

Coastal wetlands such as salt marshes and mangroves provide important protection against stormy waves. Accurate assessments of wetlands’ capacity in wave attenuation are required to safely utilize their protection services. Recent studies have shown that tidal currents have a significant impact on wetlands’ wave attenuation capacity, but such impact has been rarely considered in numerical models, which may lead to overestimation of wave attenuation in wetlands. This study modified the SWAN (Simulating Waves Nearshore) model to account for the effect of accompanying currents on vegetation-induced wave dissipation. Furthermore, this model was extended to include automatically derived vegetation drag coefficients, spatially varying vegetation height, and Doppler Effect in combined current-wave flows. Model evaluation against an analytical model and flume data shows that the modified model can accurately simulate wave height change in combined current-wave flows. Subsequently, we applied the new model to a mangrove wetland on Hailing Island in China with a special focus on the effect of currents on wave dissipation. It is found that the currents can either increase or decrease wave attenuation depending on the ratio of current velocity to the amplitude of the horizontal wave orbital velocity, which is in good agreement with field observations. Lastly, we used Hailing Island site as an example to simulate wave attenuation by vegetation under hypothetical storm surge conditions. Model results indicate that when currents are 0.08–0.15 m/s and the incident wave height is 0.75–0.90 m, wetlands’ wave attenuation capacity can be reduced by nearly 10% compared with pure wave conditions, which provides implications for critical design conditions for coastal safety. The obtained results and the developed model are valuable for the design and implementation of wetland-based coastal defense. The code of the developed model has been made open source, in the hope to assist further research and coastal management.

The Bohai Sea (BS) is the unique semi-closed inland sea of China, characterized by degraded water quality due to significant terrestrial pollution input. In order to improve its water quality, a dedicated action named “Uphill Battles for Integrated Bohai Sea Management” (UBIBSM, 2018–2020) was implemented by the Chinese government. To evaluate the action effectiveness toward water quality improvement, variability of the satellite-observed water transparency (Secchi disk depth, Z_SD) was explored, with special emphasis on the nearshore waters (within 20 km from the coastline) prone to terrestrial influence. (1) Compared to the status before the action began (2011–2017), majority (87.3%) of the nearshore waters turned clear during the action implementation period (2018–2020), characterized by the elevated Z_SD by 11.6% ± 12.1%. (2) Nevertheless, the improvement was not spatially uniform, with higher Z_SD improvement in provinces of Hebei, Liaoning, and Shandong (13.2% ± 16.5%, 13.2% ± 11.6%, 10.8% ± 10.2%, respectively) followed by Tianjin (6.2% ± 4.7%). (3) Bayesian trend analysis found the abrupt Z_SD improvement in April 2018, which coincided with the initiation of UBIBSM, implying the water quality response to pollution control. More importantly, the independent statistics of land-based pollutant discharge also indicated that the significant reduction of terrestrial pollutant input during the UBIBSM action was the main driver of observed Z_SD improvement. (4) Compared with previous pollution control actions in the BS, UBIBSM was found to be the most successful one during the past 20 years, in terms of transparency improvement over nearshore waters. The presented results proved the UBIBSM-achieved remarkable water quality improvement, taking the advantage of long-term consistent and objective data record from satellite ocean color observation.

The influence of Typhoon Kalmaegi on internal waves near the Dongsha Islands in the northeastern South China Sea was investigated using mooring observation data. We observed, for the first time, that the phenomenon of regular variation characteristics of the 14-d spring-neap cycle of diurnal internal tides (ITs) can be regulated by typhoons. The diurnal ITs lost the regular variation characteristics of the 14-d spring-neap cycle during the typhoon period owing to the weakening of diurnal coherent ITs, represented by O₁ and K₁, and the strengthening of diurnal incoherent ITs. Results of quantitative analysis showed that during the pre-typhoon period, time-averaged modal kinetic energy (sum of Modes 1–5) of near-inertial internal waves (NIWs) and diurnal and semidiurnal ITs were 0.62 kJ/m², 5.66 kJ/m², and 1.48 kJ/m², respectively. However, during the typhoon period, the modal kinetic energy of NIWs increased 5.11 times, mainly due to the increase in high-mode kinetic energy. At the same time, the modal kinetic energy of diurnal and semidiurnal ITs was reduced by 68.9% and 20%, respectively, mainly due to the decrease in low-mode kinetic energy. The significantly reduced diurnal ITs during the typhoon period could be due to: (1) strong nonlinear interaction between diurnal ITs and NIWs, and (2) a higher proportion of high-mode diurnal ITs during the typhoon period, leading to more energy dissipation.

With the improvements in the density and quality of satellite altimetry data, a high-precision and high-resolution mean sea surface model containing abundant information regarding a marine gravity field can be calculated from long-time series multi-satellite altimeter data. Therefore, in this study, a method was proposed for determining marine gravity anomalies from a mean sea surface model. Taking the Gulf of Mexico (15°–32°N, 80°–100°W) as the study area and using a removal-recovery method, the residual gridded deflections of the vertical (DOVs) are calculated by combining the mean sea surface, mean dynamic topography, and XGM2019e_2159 geoid, and then using the inverse Vening-Meinesz method to determine the residual marine gravity anomalies from the residual gridded DOVs. Finally, residual gravity anomalies are added to the XGM2019e_2159 gravity anomalies to derive marine gravity anomaly models. In this study, the marine gravity anomalies were estimated with mean sea surface models CNES_CLS15MSS, DTU21MSS, and SDUST2020MSS and the mean dynamic topography models CNES_CLS18MDT and DTU22MDT. The accuracy of the marine gravity anomalies derived by the mean sea surface model was assessed based on ship-borne gravity data. The results show that the difference between the gravity anomalies derived by DTU21MSS and CNES_CLS18MDT and those of the ship-borne gravity data is optimal. With an increase in the distance from the coast, the difference between the gravity anomalies derived by mean sea surface models and ship-borne gravity data gradually decreases. The accuracy of the difference between the gravity anomalies derived by mean sea surface models and those from ship-borne gravity data are optimal at a depth of 3–4 km. The accuracy of the gravity anomalies derived by the mean sea surface model is high.

Marine spatial planning (MSP) is designed to divide the sea area into different types of functional zones, to implement corresponding development activities. However, the long-term impacts of anthropogenic activities associated with MSP practice on the marine microbial biosphere are still unclear. Yalu River Estuary, a coastal region in northeast of China, has been divided into fishery & agricultural (F&A) zone, shipping & port (S&P) zone and marine protected area (MPA) zone by a local MSP guideline that has been run for decades. To examine the effects of long-term executed MSP, benthic bacterial communities from different MSP zones were obtained and compared in this study. The results revealed significant differences in the bacterial community structure and predict functions among different zones. Bacterial genera enriched in different zones were identified, including SBR1031 in MPA, Woeseia and Sva0996 in S&P, and Halioglobus in F&A. In addition, correlations between some bacterial genera and sediment pollutants were uncovered. Furthermore, bacteria related to sulphide production were more abundant in the F&A zone, which was according to the accumulation of sulphides in this area. Moreover, bacteria associated with chemoheterotrophy and fermentation were more predominant in the S&P zone, consistent with high levels of organic matter and petroleum caused by shipping. Our findings indicated benthic bacterial communities could bring to light the anthropogenic activity footprints by different activities induced by long-term MSP practice.

Planktonic foraminifer Globigerinoides ruber (white) and Trilobatus sacculifer are the most frequently used mixed-layer dwelling species for reconstructing past oceanic environments. Specifically, the Mg/Ca ratios of these two foraminiferal species have been used for reconstructing tropical/subtropical changes in sea surface temperature (SST). However, these two species have different morphotypes, of which the spatial and temporal differences in Mg/Ca ratios and their influencing factors are still unclear. Our objective is to investigate the potential differences between the Mg/Ca ratios of these different morphotypes of G. ruber (white) and T. sacculifer in the western Philippine Sea (WPS) and determine their implications for the reconstruction of SST and upper-ocean structure. Mg/Ca measurements are made on two basic morphotypes of G. ruber (white) [sensu stricto (s.s.) and sensu lato (s.l.)] and T. sacculifer [with (w) and without (w/o) a sac-like final chamber] on samples of Site MD06-3047B from the WPS. Our results reveal that Mg/Ca ratios of different G. ruber morphotypes show consistent differences; and those of T. sacculifer morphotypes show staged variations since MIS 3. It is suggested to select a single morphotype for reconstructing SST changes using the Mg/Ca ratios of G. ruber and T. sacculifer in the WPS. Furthermore, the Mg/Ca ratios between G. ruber s.s. and G. ruber s.l. [Δ(Mg/Ca)_{G.ruber s.s.−s.l.}] downcore MD06-3047B covaries with indexes of summer monsoon. Combining with the core-top results, showing regional variation of differences in the Δ(Mg/Ca)_{G.ruber s.s.−s.l.} over the western tropical Pacific, we propose that Δ(Mg/Ca)_{G.ruber s.s.−s.l.} may tend to reflect summer mixed layer depth.

In this study, Ulva prolifera protein was used for preparing angiotensin-I converting enzyme (ACE)-inhibitory peptide via virtual gastrointestinal digestion and in silico screening. Some parameters of the obtained peptide, such as inhibition kinetics, docking mechanism, stability, transport pathway, were explored by Lineweaver-Burk plots, molecular docking, in vitro stimulate gastrointestinal (GI) digestion and Caco-2 cells monolayer model, respectively. Then, a novel anti-ACE peptide LDF (IC₅₀, (1.66 ± 0.34) μmol/L) was screened and synthesized by chemical synthesis. It was a no-competitive inhibitor and its anti-ACE inhibitory effect mainly attributable to four Conventional Hydrogen Bonds and Zn701 interactions. It could keep activity during simulated GI digestion in vitro and was transported by peptide transporter PepT1 and passive-mediated mode. Besides, it could activate Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) activity to promote the production of NO and reduce Endothelin-1 (ET-1) secretion induced by Angiotensin II (Ang II) in Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVECs). Meanwhile, it could promote mice splenocytes proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner. Our study indicated that this peptide was a potential ingredient functioning on vasodilation and enhancing immunity.

Marine ciliates play important roles not only in linking the microbial loop to the classic pelagic and benthic food chains but also in regenerating nutrients, yet how dietary nutrient imbalance impacts their nutrient regeneration has not been thoroughly addressed. The growth and physiological responses of Euplotes vannus to low dietary nitrogen (LN) and low dietary phosphorus (LP) conditions were studied, with the bacterium Pseudomonas putida as prey. Feeding on LN prey reduced the growth rate of E. vannus. Dietary nutrient limitation changed the types and quantities of nutrient recycling. Feeding on LP prey enhanced dissolved organic carbon excretion but reduced orthophosphate excretion, whereas feeding on LN prey generally resulted in decreases in the excretion rate in all N forms (ammonium, urea, and nitrate). In addition, the proportion of ammonium in regenerated N increased significantly under the LN condition. These findings indicate that a nutrient-imbalanced diet triggers E. vannus to retain limited macronutrients and promotes the recycling of excessive macronutrients, which may potentially form positive and negative feedback to ambient N and P limitations, respectively.

Generally, a teleostean group (e.g., family or genus) owns one type or a set of similar mitochondrial gene arrangement. It is interesting, however, that four different types of gene arrangement have been found in the mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of Cynoglossidae species. So far, the possible mechanisms of mitogenomic gene rearrangement and its potential implications have aroused widespread attention and caused lots of controversy. Here, a total of 21 Cynoglossidae mitogenomes and a newly sequenced mitogenome of Cynoglossus puncticpes (Pleuronectiformes: Cynoglossidae) were compared. The length ranges from 16 417 bp to 18 369 bp, which is mainly caused by the length heteroplasmy of control region (CR). Further analysis reveals that the difference of tandem repeats acts as a determining factor resulting in the length heterogeneity. Like most gene rearrangements of Cynoglossinae mitogenomes, tRNA-Gln gene encoded by the L-strand has translocated to the H-strand (Q inversion), accompanied by the translocation of CR in C. puncticpes mitogenome. The typical IQM order (tRNA-Ile-Gln-Met) changed to QIM order. Tandem duplication/random loss and mitochondrial recombination were accepted as the most possible models to account for the rearrangements in C. puncticpes mitogenome. Phylogenetic trees showed a strong correlation between the gap spacer in the rearranged QIM area and phylogeny, which provides a fresh idea for phylogenetic studies in future.