The long-term dynamic evolution and underlying mechanisms of coastal landscape pattern stability, driven by strong anthropogenic interference and consequently climate change, are topics of major interest in national and international scientific research. Guangdong Province, located in southeastern China, has been undergoing rapid urbanization over several decades. In this study, we quantitatively determined the scale threshold characteristics of coastal landscape pattern stability in Guangdong Province, from the dual perspective of spatial heterogeneity and spatial autocorrelation. An analysis of the spatiotemporal evolution of the coastal landscape was conducted after the optical scale was determined. Then, we applied the geodetector statistical method to quantitatively explore the mechanisms underlying coastal landscape pattern stability. Based on the inflection point of landscape metrics and the maximum value of the Moran Ⅰ index, the optimal scale for analyzing coastal landscape pattern stability in Guangdong Province was 240 m × 240 m. Within the past several decades, coastal landscape pattern stability increased slightly and then decreased, with a turning point around 2005. The most significant variations in coastal landscape pattern stability were observed in the transition zone of rural-urban expansion. A q-statistics analysis showed that the explanatory power of paired factors was greater than that of a single driving factor; the paired factors with the greatest impact on coastal landscape pattern stability in Guangdong Province were the change in gross industrial output and change in average annual precipitation from 2010 to 2015, based on a q value of 0.604. These results will contribute to future efforts to achieve sustainable coastal development and provide a scientific basis and technical support for the rational planning and utilization of resources in large estuarine areas, including marine disaster prevention and seawall ecological restoration.

Mangroves are indispensable to coastlines, maintaining biodiversity, and mitigating climate change. Therefore, improving the accuracy of mangrove information identification is crucial for their ecological protection. Aiming at the limited morphological information of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images, which is greatly interfered by noise, and the susceptibility of optical images to weather and lighting conditions, this paper proposes a pixel-level weighted fusion method for SAR and optical images. Image fusion enhanced the target features and made mangrove monitoring more comprehensive and accurate. To address the problem of high similarity between mangrove forests and other forests, this paper is based on the U-Net convolutional neural network, and an attention mechanism is added in the feature extraction stage to make the model pay more attention to the mangrove vegetation area in the image. In order to accelerate the convergence and normalize the input, batch normalization (BN) layer and Dropout layer are added after each convolutional layer. Since mangroves are a minority class in the image, an improved cross-entropy loss function is introduced in this paper to improve the model’s ability to recognize mangroves. The AttU-Net model for mangrove recognition in high similarity environments is thus constructed based on the fused images. Through comparison experiments, the overall accuracy of the improved U-Net model trained from the fused images to recognize the predicted regions is significantly improved. Based on the fused images, the recognition results of the AttU-Net model proposed in this paper are compared with its benchmark model, U-Net, and the Dense-Net, Res-Net, and Seg-Net methods. The AttU-Net model captured mangroves’ complex structures and textural features in images more effectively. The average OA, F1-score, and Kappa coefficient in the four tested regions were 94.406%, 90.006%, and 84.045%, which were significantly higher than several other methods. This method can provide some technical support for the monitoring and protection of mangrove ecosystems.

Shipboard radiosonde soundings are important for detecting and quantifying the multiscale variability of atmosphere-ocean interactions associated with mass exchanges. This study evaluated the accuracies of shipboard Global Positioning System (GPS) soundings in the eastern tropical Indian Ocean and South China Sea through a simultaneous balloon-borne inter-comparison of different radiosonde types. Our results indicate that the temperature and relative humidity (RH) measurements of GPS-TanKong (GPS-TK) radiosonde (used at most stations before 2012) have larger biases than those of ChangFeng-06-A (CF-06-A) radiosonde (widely used in current observation) when compared to reference data from Vaisala RS92-SGP radiosonde, with a warm bias of 5℃ and dry bias of 10% during daytimes, and a cooling bias of –0.8℃ and a moist bias of 6% during nighttime. These systematic biases are primarily attributed to the radiation effects and altitude deviation. An empirical correction algorithm was developed to retrieve the atmospheric temperature and RH profiles. The corrected profiles agree well with that of RS92-SGP, except for uncertainties of CF-06-A in the stratosphere. These correction algorithms were applied to the GPS-TK historical sounding records, reducing biases in the corrected temperature and RH profiles when compared to radio occultation data. The correction of GPS-TK historical records illustrated an improvement in capturing the marine atmospheric structure, with more accurate atmospheric boundary layer height, convective available potential energy, and convective inhibition in the tropical ocean. This study contributes significantly to improving the quality of GPS radiosonde soundings and promotes the sharing of observation in the eastern tropical Indian Ocean and South China Sea.

Wave information retrieval from videos captured by a single camera has been increasingly applied in marine observation. However, when the camera observes ocean waves at low grazing angles, the accurate extraction of wave information from videos will be affected by the interference of the fine ripples on the sea surface. To solve this problem, this study develops a method for estimating peak wave periods from videos captured at low grazing angles. The method extracts the motion of the sea surface texture from the video and obtains the peak wave period via the spectral analysis. The calculation results captured from real-world videos are compared with those obtained from X-band radar inversion and tracking buoy movement, with maximum deviations of 8% and 14%, respectively. The analysis of the results shows that the peak wave period of the method has good stability. In addition, this paper uses a pinhole camera model to convert the displacement of the texture from pixel height to actual height and performs moving average filtering on the displacement of the texture, thus conducting a preliminary exploration of the inversion of significant wave height. This study helps to extend the application of sea surface videos.

The frontogenetic processes of a submesoscale cold filament driven by the thermal convection turbulence are studied by a non-hydrostatic large eddy simulation. The results show that the periodic changes in the direction of the cross-filament secondary circulations are induced by the inertial oscillation. The change in the direction of the secondary circulations induces the enhancement and reduction of the horizontal temperature gradient during the former and later inertial period, which indicates that the frontogenetical processes of the cold filament include both of frontogenesis and frontolysis. The structure of the cold filament may be broken and restored by frontogenesis and frontolysis, respectively. The magnitude of the down-filament currents has a periodic variation, while its direction is unchanged with time. The coupling effect of the turbulent mixing and the frontogenesis and frontolysis gradually weakens the temperature gradient of the cold filament with time, which reduces frontogenetical intensity and enlarges the width of cold filament.

Typhoons in the western Pacific have a significant impact on the transport of heat, salt and particles through the Luzon Strait. However, there are very limited field observations of this impact because of extreme difficulties and even dangers for ship-based measurements during the rough weather. Here, we present the preliminary results from analyzing a dataset collected by a glider deployed west of the Luzon Strait a few days prior to the arrival of typhoon MITAG. The gilder data revealed an abnormally salinity (>34.8) subsurface water apparently sourced from Kuroshio intrusion during the typhoon. When typhoon MITAG traveled on the east of the Luzon Strait, the positive wind stress curl strengthened the cyclonic eddy and weakened the anti-cyclonic eddy. This led to a slowdown of Kuroshio and made its intrusion easier. The main axis of the Kuroshio at the northern part of the strait shifted westward after the typhoon and did not return to its original position until a week later. The Ekman transport from persistent northerly wind of typhoon MITAG was significant, but its importance in enhancing the Kuroshio intrusion is only secondary relative to the eddies variations.

The gas sources in the eastern Cote d’Ivoire Basin (Tano Basin) are seldom reported and remain controversial due to multiple sets of potential source rocks and poorly documented geochemical characteristics of natural gases. The marine source rock potential from the Upper Albian to Turonian as well as the molecular composition and the stable carbon isotope composition of natural gases in the eastern Cote d’Ivoire Basin were studied in detail to investigate the origins of natural gases. The total organic carbon (TOC), hydrogen index (HI), and generation potential (S₁ + S₂) of source rocks indicate that both sapropelic source rocks and humic source rocks developed during the late Albian, whereas sapropelic source rocks developed during the Cenomanian and the Turonian. The normal order of δ¹³CH₄ < δ¹³C₂H₆ < δ¹³C₃H₈ (δ¹³C₁ < δ¹³C₂ < δ¹³C₃), the relationship between C₂/C₃ molar ratio and δ¹³C₂-δ¹³C₃, and the plot of δ¹³C₁ versus C₁/(C₂+C₃) collectively show that the natural gases are thermogenic due to the primary cracking of kerogen, including the typical oil-associated gases from Well D-1, the mixed oil-associated gases and coal-derived gases from Well G-1 and Well L-1. Based on the plot of δ¹³C₁ versus δ¹³C₂ and the established relationship between δ¹³C₁ and equivalent vitrinite reflectance (Ro), we proposed that the natural gases are in a mature stage (Ro generally varies from 1.0% to 1.3%). Combined with results of basin modelling and oil-to-source correlation, the transitional to marine source rocks during the late Albian were thought to have made a great contribution to the natural gases. Our study will make a better understanding on petroleum system in the eastern Cote d’Ivoire Basin.

The genus Marinobacter is very broadly distributed in global environments and is considered as aerobic heterotroph. In this study, six Marinobacter strains were identified with autotrophic thiosulfate oxidation capacity. These strains, namely Marinobacter guineae M3B^T, Marinobacter aromaticivorans D15-8P^T, Marinobacter vulgaris F01^T, Marinobacter profundi PWS21^T, Marinobacter denitrificans JB02H27^T, and Marinobacter sp. ST-1M (with a 99.93% similarity to the 16S rDNA sequences of Marinobacter salsuginis SD-14B^T), were screened out of 32 Marinobacter strains by autotrophic thiosulfate oxidization medium. The population of cells grew in a chemolithotrophic medium, increasing from 10⁵ cells/mL to 10⁷ cells/mL within 5 d. This growth was accompanied by the consumption of thiosulfate 3.59 mmol/L to 9.64 mmol/L and the accumulation of sulfate up to 0.96 mmol/L, and occasionally produced sulfur containing complex particles. Among these Marinobacter strains, it was also found their capability of oxidizing thiosulfate to sulfate in a heterotrophic medium. Notably, M. vulgaris F01^T and M. antarcticus ZS2-30^T showed highly significant production of sulfate at 9.45 mmol/L and 3.10 mmol/L. Genome annotation indicated that these Marinobacter strains possess a complete Sox cluster for thiosulfate oxidation. Further phylogenetic analysis of the soxB gene revealed that six Marinobacter strains formed a separate lineage within Gammaproteobacteria and close to obligate chemolithoautotroph Thiomicrorhabdus arctica. The results indicated that thiosulfate oxidizing and chemolithoautotrophic potential in Marinobacter genus, which may contribute to the widespread of Marinobacter in the global ocean.

In the coastal environment, the co-occurrence of antibiotic and nanoplastic pollution is common. Investigating their individual and combined toxicity to marine organisms is of great necessity. In the present study, the reproductive toxicity of sulfamethazine (SMZ) and nanoplastics (polystyrene, PS) via the dietary route on the spermatogenesis of marine medaka (Oryzias melastigma) was examined. After 30 d of dietary exposure, SMZ alone decreased the gonadosomatic index (GSI) value (~35%) and the proportion of undifferentiated type A spermatogonia (A_und) (~40%), probably by disrupting the testicular sex hormone production, the spermatogenesis-related growth factor network and the balance of apoptosis. Individual exposure to PS did not affect the GSI value or the proportions of germ cells at different developmental stages, but dysregulated the expression of several spermatogenesis-related genes. Interestingly, the presence of PS alleviated the decreased GSI value caused by SMZ. This alleviation effect was achieved by enhancing the spermatogonia differentiation instead of reversing the suppressed self-renewal of A_und, suggesting that the mixture of PS and SMZ could cause reproductive effects in a different way. These findings expand our knowledge of threats of ubiquitous antibiotic and nanoplastic pollution to fish reproduction and population.

Isopod crustaceans of the family Dajidae are exclusively marine ectoparasites. The genus Notophryxus G. O. Sars, 1883 currently includes nine nominal species, which are very rarely reported as the chances for encountering these specimens are unpredictable. Our comprehension of the taxonomy, biology, ecology, and life cycle of species belonging to the Notophryxus genus is notably lacking. All nominal species of Notophryxus genus are reviewed here to obtain a comprehensive and integrative taxonomic understanding of this genus, in an attempt to address the lacunae. This paper also documents the rediscovery of an ectoparasitic isopod from the genus Notophryxus in Indian waters, after 55 years. Adult isopod specimens obtained from the outer reefs of Amini Island in the Lakshadweep archipelago, Southeastern Arabian Sea, display morphological congruence to Notophryxus globularis G. O. Sars, 1885. The only previous report on this species dates back to 1885 from G.O. Sars' description of N. globularis as an ectoparasite on the euphausiid Thysanoessa gregaria G. O. Sars, 1883 in the North Pacific. This discovery represents a range extension of N. globularis from the North Pacific to the Arabian Sea. Two cryptoniscid larvae and three adult females of N. globularis (with dwarf males) were found attached to four adult mysid specimens of Siriella aequiremis Hansen, 1910. The present study provides an improved diagnosis of N. globularis with the aid of light microscopy images and line drawings which was not given in the original G. O. Sars, 1885 report. This research also provides a concise description of cryptoniscid larvae from the same sampling location and same host which is most likely to be N. globularis larvae.