Research on seamounts provides some of the best constraints for understanding intraplate volcanism, and samples from seamounts reveal crucial evidence about the geochemical makeup of the oceanic mantle. There are still many seamounts in the West Pacific Seamount Province (WPSP) that have not been studied, meaning their ages and geochemistry remain unknown. A better understanding of these seamount trails and their evolutionary history, investigated with age and geochemistry data, will enable better understanding of the geological processes operating underneath the Pacific Ocean Plate. Here, new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages and trace element and Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic data for seven basalt rocks from four seamounts in the WPSP are provided. Chemically, these rocks are all Oceanic Island Alkali basalt (OIA type); analysis of olivine phenocrysts shows that the magmas experienced strong olivine fractionation and changed from olivine + plagioclase to olivine + plagioclase + clinopyroxene cotectic during their evolution. Rare earth element (REE) patterns and a spider diagram of the samples in this study show OIB (Ocean Island Basalt) like behavior. The range of ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values is from 0.704 60 to 0.706 24, the range of ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb values is from 18.241 to 18.599, and the range of ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd values is from 0.512 646 to 0.512 826; together, these values indicate magma sources ranging from EMI to EMII. Finally, new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age data show that these seamounts formed at ~97 and ~106 Ma, indicating that some may have undergone the same formation processes as seamounts in the eastern part of the Magellan Seamount Trail, but other seamounts likely have different origins.

There were two severe coral bleaching events at Ko Khang Khao, the inner Gulf of Thailand, occurred during the prolonged period of the elevated sea surface temperature (SST) in 2010 and low salinity as well as turbidity due to heavy flooding in 2011. The bleaching index (BI) and mortality index (MI) are calculated to compare the susceptibilities of coral species in the two bleaching events. The BI and MI vary significantly among the study sites and bleaching events. The most susceptible corals during both bleaching events are Acropora millepora, Pocillopora damicornis and Pavona decussate, while the most resistant species were Galaxea fascicularis, Fungia fungites, Pavona frondifera, Oulastrea crispate, and Symphyllia recta. The corals Favia favus, Goniopora columna, Platygyra pini, Symphyllia agaricia were relatively more tolerant to high SST but they are relatively more susceptible to low salinity. Coral bleaching is a phenomenon that the dissociation stress of the symbiotic relationship between zooxanthellae and their cnidarian host results in the reduction in photosynthetic pigment concentration. Among stressors, both prolonged exposure of high SST and low salinity, above and below their thresholds, respectively. The long-term resilience of coral communities at Ko Khang Khao and other coral communities close to the mouth of large rivers may depend on the frequency and duration of the exposure on the elevated SST due to atmospheric heating and low salinity due to river flooding.

Better forecast of tropical cyclone (TC) can help to reduce risk and enhance management. The TC forecast depends on the scientific understanding of oceanic processes, air-sea interaction and finally, the atmospheric process. The TC Viyaru is taken as an example, which is formed at the end of 11 May 2013 and sustains up to 17 May 2013 during pre-monsoon season. Argo data are used to investigate ocean response processes by comparing pre- and post-conditions of the TC. Eight oceanic parameters including the sea surface temperature (SST), the sea surface salinity (SSS), and the barrier layer thickness (BLT), the 26°C isotherm depth in the ocean (D₂₆), the isothermal layer depth (ILD), the mixed layer depth (MLD), the tropical cyclone heat potential (TCHP) and the effective oceanic layer for cyclogenesis (EOLC) are chosen to evaluate the pre- and post-conditions of the TC along the track of Viyaru. The values of the SST, D₂₆, BLT, TCHP and EOLC in the pre-cyclonic condition are higher than the post-cyclonic condition, while the SSS, ILD and MLD in the post-cyclonic condition are higher than the pre-cyclonic condition of the ocean due to strong cyclonic winds and subsurface upwelling. It is interesting that the strong intensity of the TC reduces less SST and vice versa. The satisfied real time Argo data is not available in the northern Bay of Bengal especially in the coastal region. A weather research and forecasting model is employed to hindcast the track of Viyaru, and the satellite data from the National Center Environmental Prediction are used to assess the hindcast.

The biogenic silica of sediment samples from Core CJ01-185 which is collected from the eastern India Ocean off the Sunda Strait is analyzed to evaluate the impact of the opening of the Sunda Strait on a paleoproductivity evolution. The new results indicate that the biogenic silica mass values of Core CJ01-185 show the lowest 0.86% in the last glacial period, and reach its maxima of 1.89% in the late Holocene. Furthermore, the biogenic silica mass accumulation rate (MAR_BSi) values also vary with much higher during the late Holocene than during the last glaciation. The input of additional terrigenous materials from the Java Sea has enhanced the paleoproductivity and increased the biogenic silica mass and MAR_BSi values after the opening of the Sunda Strait. It is suggested that the paleoproductivity in the study area is mainly influenced by the southeast monsoon and upwelling before the opening of the Sunda Strait. However, the paleoproductivity is dominated by the terrigenous materials input other than by the southeast monsoon or upwelling in the Holocene.

Suspended particulate matter (SPM) has been known as an important variable in the organic matter flow of coastal ecosystem. Half of burial carbon in seagrass meadows is contributed by allochthonous sources that compose the SPM such as phytoplankton, seagrass detritus, marine snow aggregates and terrestrially derived particles. Each composition of the SPM contributes different roles and is important to be identified, for instance, the exact contribution of seagrass detritus will be useful for determination of carbon export through the detritus form in seagrass meadows. Here, the SPM of seagrass meadows is studied in Bintan Island and the Selayar Archipelago. The aim of this research is to determine the source origin of the SPM using a stable isotope signature. In order to fulfill this aim, the objectives are defined as: (1) to specify the stable isotope signature (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) of the SPM, and (2) to determine the proportional distribution of the SPM’s prospectus sources. The result shows that the possibility of the source origin of the SPM includes a seagrass fraction (Enhalus acoroides and Thalassia hemprichii), terrestrial C4 plant, macroalgae, and terrestrial C3 plant. The SPM lies between the marine- and terrigenous-end members. However, it seems that the SPM is more to be terrigenous-end and allochthonous. According to a Bayesian mixing model, the terrestrial C4 has the highest contribution of the SPM at all sites except Barugaia and Pasi Island in Selayar (i.e., the highest contribution of the SPM is from the detritus of E. acoroides). The second contribution has been contributed by either seagrass detritus (E. acoroides or Th. hemprichii) or terrestrial C3 plant. The finding of this study indicates that there is a strong influence of the terrigenous sources in the SPM of the seagrass meadows.

The seasonal prediction of sea surface temperature (SST) and precipitation in the North Pacific based on the hindcast results of The First Institute of Oceanography Earth System Model (FIO-ESM) is assessed in this study. The Ensemble Adjusted Kalman Filter assimilation scheme is used to generate initial conditions, which are shown to be reliable by comparison with the observations. Based on this comparison, we analyze the FIO-ESM 6-month hindcast results starting from each month of 1993–2013. The model exhibits high SST prediction skills over most of the North Pacific for two seasons in advance. Furthermore, it remains skillful at long lead times for mid-latitudes. The reliable prediction of SST can transfer fairly well to precipitation prediction via air-sea interactions. The average skill of the North Pacific variability (NPV) index from 1 to 6 months lead is as high as 0.72 (0.55) when El Niño-Southern Oscillation and NPV are in phase (out of phase) at initial conditions. The prediction skill of the NPV index of FIO-ESM is improved by 11.6% (23.6%) over the Climate Forecast System, Version 2. For seasonal dependence, the skill of FIO-ESM is higher than the skill of persistence prediction in the later period of prediction.

The effects of tidal currents (i.e., barotropic and internal tides) are important in the biogeochemistry of a coastal shelf sea. The high-frequency of currents and near-bottom temperatures collected in three consecutive southwest monsoon seasons (May, June, July and August of 2013 until 2015) is presented to reveal the role of the tidal currents to the temperature variability in the coastal shelf sea of the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia (ECPM), south of the South China Sea (SCS). The results of a spectral density and harmonic analysis demonstrate that the near-bottom temperature variability and the tidal currents are influenced by diurnal (O₁ and K₁) and semidiurnal (M₂) tidal currents. The spectral density of residual currents (detided data) at 5, 10 and 16 m depth also shows significant peaks at the diurnal tidal frequency (K₁) and small peaks at the semidiurnal tidal frequency (M₂) indicating the existence of internal tides. The result of the horizontal kinetic energy (HKE) shows a strong intermittent energy of internal tides in the ECPM with the strongest energy is found at 16 m depth during a sporadic cooling event in June and July. A high horizontal cross-shore heat flux (16 m) also indicates strong intrusions of cooler water into the ECPM in June and July. During the short duration of cold pulse water observed in June and July, a cross-wavelet analysis also reveals the strong relationship between the near-bottom temperatures and the internal tidal currents at the diurnal tidal frequency. The intrusion of this cooler water is probably related to the monsoon-induced upwelling in June. It is loosely interpreted that the interaction between the strong barotropic tides and the steep slope in the central basin of the SCS under the stratified condition in southwest monsoon has generated these internal tides. The dissipation of internal tides from the slope area probably has driven the cold-upwelled water into the ECPM coastal shelf sea when the upwelling intensity is the highest in June and July.

In this study, echolocation signals were recorded from a wild Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris) in shallow water in the Bay of Brunei. During sound recording, a small fishing boat engine startled a nearby Irrawaddy dolphin and began chasing it on two occasions. Variations in the acoustic parameters were detected. When the Irrawaddy dolphin was startled and chased, the sound pressure level, number of click trains per minute, pulse number, and average inter-pulse interval (PI) per click train were all affected. The PI increased and exhibited a slight downward trend during the chase. The increase in PI indicated an increase in the inspection distance as the dolphin escaped. Thus, Irrawaddy dolphins may adapt their echolocation signals to stand out from ambient noise in the wild and to improve their search efforts in potentially risky situations. Appropriate management of the burst noise around the dolphins is important.

Seagrass beds degraded significantly since the last century on both, global and local scale. The seagrass species Enhalus acoroides (Linnaeus f.) Royle is a common species found in almost all marine ecosystems including bays, lagoons and around offshore islands in tropical regions of the West Pacific. It was shown that genetic diversity is an essential indicator of the conditions of ecosystems. In the present study, microsatellite markers were used to assess the genetic diversity and population structure of six distinct seagrass beds along the coast of the Khanh Hoa Province, Vietnam. The results indicate that the genetic diversity of the populations in the open sea is higher than in the lagoon. Seagrass beds occurring in disturbed sites show reduced genetic diversity. The fixing index value (F_ST) depicts a relatively high genetic structure among populations. Structure analysis clusters the populations into open sea and lagoon populations and cluster analysis and AMOVA indicate a significant difference between the two groups. There are low but non-significant positive correlations between geographic and genetic distances. The different habitats of the open sea and the lagoon are probably responsible for forming two groups.

Using observational data of Argos satellite-tracked drifters from 1988 to 2012, we analyzed seasonal characteristics of the surface Kuroshio branch (KB) intrusion into the South China Sea (SCS). The analysis results are as follows. The surface KB originates from the southern Balintang Channel (BLTC) and Babuyan Channel (BBYC). It begins in late September, reaches peak strength in November–December, and declines at the end of March. The mean speed of drifters along the KB path during their traverse of the Luzon Strait (LS) was 43% faster than during the two days before entering the LS for the flow originating from the southern BLTC, but there was a 24% increase in speed for the flow from the BBYC. The observations show that in winter, monthly-mean sea-level anomalies (SLAs) were positive southwest of Taiwan Island and extended to the northern LS. The SLAs were negative northwest of Luzon Island and extended to the southern LS, which acted like a pump, forcing a part of Kuroshio water westward into the SCS. The condition under which the KB forms was solved by a set of simplified motion equations. The results indicate that whether the KB can form depends upon the sea-level gradient at the central LS and region to the west, as well as the location, speed and direction of Kuroshio surface water when it enters the LS.