Continental China Research Articles

Uppermost mantle seismic Pn-velocity in the continental China and its tectonic implications

Uppermost mantle seismic Pn-velocity in the continental China and its tectonic implications

Uppermost mantle seismic Pn-velocity in the continental China and its tectonic implications

Uppermost mantle seismic Pn-velocity in the continental China and its tectonic implications

Uppermost mantle seismic Pn-velocity in the continental China and its tectonic implications

Uppermost mantle seismic Pn-velocity in the continental China and its tectonic implications

Uppermost mantle seismic Pn-velocity in the continental China and its tectonic implications

Uppermost mantle seismic Pn-velocity in the continental China and its tectonic implications

Transmission Patterns of Seasonal Influenza in China between 2010 and 2018.

Background Understanding the transmission source, pattern, and mechanism of infectious diseases is essential for targeted prevention and control. Though it has been studied for many years, the detailed transmission patterns and drivers for the seasonal influenza epidemics in China remain elusive. Methods In this study, utilizing a suite of epidemiological and genetic approaches, we analyzed the updated province-level weekly influenza surveillance, sequence, climate, and demographic data between 1 April 2010 and 31 March 2018 from continental China, to characterize detailed transmission patterns and explore the potential initiating region and drivers of the seasonal influenza epidemics in China. Results An annual cycle for influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 and B and a semi-annual cycle for influenza A(H3N2) were confirmed. Overall, the seasonal influenza A(H3N2) virus caused more infection in China and dominated the summer season in the south. The summer season epidemics in southern China were likely initiated in the “Lingnan” region, which includes the three most southern provinces of Hainan, Guangxi, and Guangdong. Additionally, the regions in the south play more important seeding roles in maintaining the circulation of seasonal influenza in China. Though intense human mobility plays a role in the province-level transmission of influenza epidemics on a temporal scale, climate factors drive the spread of influenza epidemics on both the spatial and temporal scales. Conclusion The surveillance of seasonal influenza in the south, especially the “Lingnan” region in the summer, should be strengthened. More broadly, both the socioeconomic and climate factors contribute to the transmission of seasonal influenza in China. The patterns and mechanisms revealed in this study shed light on the precise forecasting, prevention, and control of seasonal influenza in China and worldwide.

Uppermost mantle seismic Pn-velocity in the continental China and its tectonic implications

Uppermost mantle seismic Pn-velocity in the continental China and its tectonic implications

Uppermost mantle seismic Pn-velocity in the continental China and its tectonic implications

Uppermost mantle seismic Pn-velocity in the continental China and its tectonic implications

先秦 시대 天命觀의 전개

This work will study the outlooks on the mandate of Heaven in pre-Qin period, as one of philosophical studies on the relations between Heaven & Human beings, the core of ancient thoughts in East Asian traditional history & culture. The 1st chap. is introduction, it will mention the theories on concepts of Heaven and a thesis that the Human models the Heaven as a leading study. The 2nd chap. will defy some definitions of the mandate of Heaven, the road(way) of Heaven, and Heaven’s vengeance as a punishment to disobedience against Heaven’s Will. The 3rd chap. will introduce main theories on three step developments of the outlooks on the mandate of Heaven in pre-Qin period mainly concerning works in the continent of China, which show an epoch-making change before and after reform & opening of socialist market economy. To the end of 20th century, researches in the continent of China were faithful (devoted) to historical materialism of Marxism and disparage the religions & faiths as a political tool & a narcotic against the people’s will. But from the beginning of 21st century, researches approve the positive functions of religions in the human history & culture, so appreciate developments of the outlooks on the mandate of Heaven in pre-Qin period. Then this work will try the author’s own analysis & criticism based on classical literatures. ｢on｣; (documen-tary) records; documents The 4th chap. is the outlook on the mandate of Heaven and the thought on disasters from Heaven in Yin(殷) dynasty. The 5th chap. is the outlook on the mandate of Heaven and the thought on disasters from Heaven in West-Zhou(西周) dynasty. The 6th chap. will survey and comment on the changes of the outlook on the mandate of Heaven in Spring & Autumn(Chun-Qiu) period and Warring States period. Lastly the 7th chap. will come up with an the author’s own idea of the probability of the historical, philosophical, and universal(or cosmic) origin of the outlook on the mandate of Heaven. The 8th chap. is a brief conclusion. The author of this work anticipate that some able students may have interest in this subject and accomplish further more deepening inquiry.

Two-Decade GNSS Observation Processing and Analysis with the New IGS Repro3 Criteria: Implications for the Refinement of Velocity Field and Deformation Field in Continental China

Extensive observation collection, unified and rigorous data processing, and accurate construction of the station motion model are the three essential elements for the accuracy and reliability of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) velocity field. GNSS data reprocessing not only can weaken the influence of untrue nonlinear site signals caused by imperfect models but also can eliminate the displacement offset caused by frame transformation, solution strategy, and model change. Based on the new repro3 criteria of the International GNSS Service (IGS), we process rigorously GNSS observations of continental China from the period 2000 to 2020 to refine GNSS station secular velocities and analyze the present-day crustal deformation in continental China. The main contributions of this work included the followings. Firstly, the repro3 algorithm and model are used to uniformly and rigorously process the two-decade GNSS historical observations to obtain more reliable GNSS coordinate time series with mm-level precision. Combined with the historical records of major earthquakes in continental China, we build a GNSS time series model considering nonlinear factors (velocity, offset, period, co-seismic/post-seismic deformation) to extract GNSS horizontal velocity field whose root mean square (RMS) mean is 0.1 mm/a. Secondly, the GNSS horizontal grid velocity field in continental China is interpolated using the gpsgridder method (the minimum radius is set to 16, and the Poisson’s ratio is set to 0.5). Estimation and analysis of the crustal strain rate solution lead to the conclusion that the strain degree in West China (the high strain region is mainly located in the Qinghai Tibet Plateau and Tianshan Mountains) is much more intense than that in the east (the main strain rate is less than 5 nstrain/year). In addition, most strong earthquakes in the Chinese mainland occurred on active blocks and their boundary faults with large changes in the GNSS velocity field and strain field. Then, an improved K-means++ clustering analysis method is proposed to divide active blocks using GNSS horizontal velocity field. Furthermore, different relative motion models of different blocks are constructed using the block division results. Among them, the Eurasian block has the lowest accuracy (the RMS of residual velocity in the east and north directions are 5.60 and 9.65 mm/a, respectively), and the China block 7 has the highest accuracy (the RMS mean of relative velocity in the east and north directions are 2.60 and 2.65 mm/a, respectively). More observations (2260+ sites), longer time (20 years), and updated criteria (Repro3) are to finely obtain the GNSS velocity field in continental China, and depict crustal deformation and active block with the gpsgridder and improved K-means++ methods.

Potential seismicity by impoundment of the Baihetan Reservoir, Xiaojiang Fault Zone, Southwest China

Baihetan reservoir, the second-largest hydropower station in China, is located at the east boundary of the Sichuan-Yunnan block, one of the most seismic active zones in continental China. Many studies have shown that the potential risk of reservoir-induced seismicity will ramp up when the crustal stress field is remarkably perturbed following its impoundment. In this work, based on the fully-coupled poroelastic theory, we built models with different parameters to quantitatively analyze the displacement and stress field changes caused by the Baihetan reservoir impoundment. The preliminary results show that the maximum subsidence reaches about 0.3 m, and the stress change is about 0.4 MPa at 5 km after five years of impoundment. Most strikingly, we find a significant increase of Coulomb Failure Stress Change (ΔCFS) on the fault planes at the vicinities of the surrounding Xiaojiang Fault, Daliangshan Fault, and Lianfeng Fault, suggesting high reservoir induced seismicity risks. However, the occurrence of induced/triggered earthquakes is not only related to the regional tectonic loading, but also the rock strength. Moreover, the reservoir water level rise rate will lead to different spatial–temporal patterns of the induced micro-seismicity, however, this difference will gradually disappear as the reservoir continues to operate, and the large earthquake is mainly affected by geological tectonics.

On the link between tree size and ecosystem carbon sequestration capacity across continental forests

AbstractThe asymptotic height (Hmax) and the size‐scaling exponent (β), proxies of tree size and important forest architectural parameters of the relationships between height and tree diameter of forests, play important roles in the carbon (C) stocks and fluxes of forest ecosystems. However, the patterns and drivers of these values in continental China are not well known. Based on a national forest database of China, we explored the geographic patterns and ecological drivers of Hmax and β and their dynamic relationships with the C sequestration capabilities of the studied ecosystems, including the C stock and allocation, net ecosystem productivity (NEP), and mean ecosystem C turnover time. At the ecosystem scale, the Hmax values ranged from 10.37 to 37.07 m, with a mean value of 25.41 m, showing a decreasing trend with increasing latitude. However, β ranged from 0.598 to 0.73, with a mean value of 0.66, showing an increasing trend with latitude. The spatial patterns of the forest Hmax and β at the national scale were largely controlled by the mean annual temperature, mean annual precipitation, and forest age. These patterns were verified using biomass and forest C sequestration data, showing that the total vegetation C stock as a whole, in aboveground or belowground components, was significantly and positively correlated with Hmax (p < 0.05), revealing apparent “faster first, slower later” increasing trends with Hmax (R2 = 0.759, 0.821, and 0.527, respectively). In addition, for forest >20 m, NEP showed a significant strong negative correlation with Hmax (by −0.967% per 1 m of Hmax, R2 = 0.504, p < 0.05), and a 10‐m increase in Hmax resulted in a decrease in mean ecosystem C turnover time by 16.9% (7.43 years). Taller forests might indeed be expected to have higher autotrophic respiration consumption rates but lower mean ecosystem C turnover time and NEP values than shorter forests. The discovery that community‐level asymptotic height could be used as a comparative predictor of ecosystem C sequestration capacity and its difference among forest biomes underpins the fundamentals of ecological theories and modeling, which has important implications for forest restoration, policy, and management.

Embedded Health Risk from Arsenic in Globally Traded Rice.

International food trade is fundamental to global food security but with often negative consequences in the producing country. We propose a method of quantifying flows of inorganic arsenic (iAs) and embedded increased lifetime cancer risks (EHR) at a global scale, where negative impacts are felt on the importing country. Computations were made for 153 countries. Vietnam exports the most iAs embedded in rice (796 kg/year) followed by India (788 kg/year), Thailand (485 kg/year), and the United States (323 kg/year). We show that continental China, Indonesia, and Malaysia have the highest imports of iAs (292, 174, and 123 kg/year, respectively). Bangladesh ranks highest in EHR followed by Vietnam and Cambodia (150, 141, and 111 per 100,000, respectively). Countries that depend exclusively on imported rice are importing a substantial amount of risk, as, e.g., Kiribati and Solomon Islands (57 and 53 per 100,000, respectively). We discuss the potential policy options for reducing population dietary health risks by well-balanced apportioning of rice sources. This study targets policy design solutions based on health gains, rather than on safe levels of the risk factor alone.

Co-evolution of the Cenozoic tectonics, geomorphology, environment and ecosystem in the Qinling Mountains and adjacent areas, Central China

The Qinling Mountains stretching from east to west in Central China are an important geological and geographical boundary in the China Continent and even the East Asia Continent. The mountains were originally formed by the collision between the North and South China Blocks during the Paleozoic and Triassic, and overprinted by the Late Mesozoic intracontinental orogeny. Since the Cenozoic, the Qinling Mountains have experienced rapid uplift, forming a great and high mountain range, which has become the geographic boundary between the Northern China and Southern China. It has an important impact on the north-south climate differentiation in the China Continent, and plays a decisive role in the north-south differentiation of ecological environment, economy, and culture. It has also profoundly affected the natural environment and biodiversity pattern in China and even East Asia. This contribution provides an overview of the relationship between the Cenozoic tectonic uplift, geomorphic evolution and biodiversity in the Qinling Mountains, as well as its boundary effect on climatic and environmental changes. It describes the topographic changes under the control of tectonics, as well as the responses of climate, environment and biological evolution to the topographic changes. Due to the high mountain topography, the Qinling Mountains act as a climate barrier between the Northern and Southern China Continents. It shows the vertical climate zoning, and separates a temperate monsoon climate to the north and a subtropical monsoon climate to the south. The unique geographical location and diverse climate types make the Qinling Mountains a unique area of biodiversity in the world. All the available data indicate the co-evolution between the Cenozoic tectonics, geomorphology, environment and ecosystem in the Qinling Mountains and adjacent areas.

Neoproterozoic–Mesozoic Tectono-Magmatic evolution of the northern Dabie Orogen, eastern China

The Dabie orogen was generated by the Late Triassic collision of the North China and South China continents and is important for understanding (ultra)high-pressure metamorphism related to continental subduction. The peak (ultra)high-pressure metamorphism related to this collisional event was followed by Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous magmatism that generated widespread igneous rocks throughout eastern China. Despite numerous studies on these events during the evolution of the Dabie orogen, other critical issues concern the nature of Proterozoic basement rocks and the Mesozoic tectono-magmatic evolution of the orogen. In this contribution, we synthesize field relationships, crystallization and depositional ages, elemental and Sr–Nd isotopic analyses from the Shangcheng area of the northern Dabie orogen. Our study demonstrates that the northern Dabie orogen contains mid-Neoproterozoic crystalline basement composed of ca. 767–733 Ma granitoids that resemble those of the Yangtze craton. Based on detrital zircons ages, we interpret that the North China continent and Yangtze craton of the South China continent were linked in the Devonian. This was followed by opening of an ocean basin between the continents in the Carboniferous and subsequent ocean closure by Jurassic time. Emplacement of ca. 137–130 Ma adakites in the Dabie orogen is interpreted to be related to regional crustal thickening. This crustal thickening phase was followed by emplacement of ca. 130–121 Ma intermediate igneous rocks during regional extension, which is supported by paleo-crustal thickness trends and the presence of an unconformity between the Cretaceous Shangcheng pluton and overlying volcanic rocks of the Jingangtai Formation.

A Comparison of Spectral Bin Microphysics versus Bulk Parameterization in Forecasting Typhoon In-Fa (2021) before, during, and after Its Landfall

Typhoon In-Fa hit continental China in July 2021 and caused an unprecedented rainfall amount, making it a typical case to examine the ability of numerical models in forecasting landfalling typhoons. The record-breaking storm was simulated using a 3-km-resolution weather research and forecast (WRF) model with spectral bin microphysics scheme (BIN) and two-moment seven-class bulk parameterization scheme (BULK). The simulations were then separated into three different typhoon landfall periods (i.e., pre-landfall, landfall, and post-landfall). It was found that typhoon intensity prediction is sensitive to microphysical schemes regardless of landfall periods, while typhoon track prediction tends to be more (less) sensitive to microphysical schemes after (before) typhoon landfall. Moreover, significant differences exist between BIN and BULK schemes in simulating the storm intensity, track, and rainfall distribution. BIN scheme simulates stronger (weaker) typhoon intensity than BULK scheme after (before) landfall, while BULK scheme simulates typhoon moving faster (slower) than BIN scheme before (after) landfall. BIN scheme produces much more extensive and homogeneous typhoon rainbands than BULK scheme, whereas BULK scheme produces stronger (weaker) rainfall in the typhoon inner (outer) rainbands. The possible reasons for such differences are discussed. At present, the ability of WRF and other mesoscale models to accurately simulate the typhoon precipitation hydrometeors is still limited. To evaluate the performances of BIN and BULK schemes of WRF model in simulating the condensed water in Typhoon In-Fa, the observed microwave brightness temperature and radar reflectivity from the core observatory of Global Precipitation Mission (GPM) satellite are directly used for validation with the help of a satellite simulator. It is suggested that BIN scheme has better performance in estimating the spatial structure, overall amplitude, and precise location of the condensed water in typhoons before landfall. During typhoon landfall, the performance of BIN scheme in simulating the structure and location of the condensate is close to that of BULK scheme, but the condensate intensity prediction by BIN scheme is still better; BULK scheme performs even better than BIN scheme in the prediction of condensate structure and location after typhoon landfall. Both schemes seem to have poorer performances in simulating the spatial structure of precipitation hydrometeors during typhoon landfall than before/after typhoon landfall. Moreover, BIN scheme simulates more (less) realistic warm (cold) rain processes than BULK scheme, especially after typhoon landfall. BULK scheme simulates more cloud water and larger convective updraft than BIN scheme, and this is also reported in many model studies comparing BIN and BULK schemes.

The Lanternfly genus Pyrops in Vietnam: A new species from Central Vietnam, taxonomic changes, checklist, identification key (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Fulgoridae)

A new species of the genus Pyrops Spinola, 1839 (Fulgoridae), P. buomvoi sp. nov., is described from Ca Na, Ninh Thuan Province in Central Vietnam. It is attributed to the candelaria group and compared with the other species of the genus. Pyrops lathburii (Kirby, 1818) is proposed as a senior synonym of P. astarte (Distant, 1914), transferred back to the candelaria group from the pyrrhorhynchus group, and recorded from Laos for the first time. The candelaria and pyrorhynchus groups are defined and commented on. Intraspecific variation in the colour of the hind wings is recorded for the first time in Pyrops condorinus (Lallemand, 1960). A checklist of the 12 Vietnamese species of Pyrops and an illustrated key which can also be used for Laos, Cambodia and Southern Continental China, are given. Pyrops buomvoi sp. nov. is the first new species of Pyrops discovered in Indochina for more than 50 years. Intraspecific colour variation in the species of Pyrops is briefly discussed.

Deformation of the colliding Luzon volcanic arc: Strain analysis using magnetic fabrics of syn-orogenic mudstones in the Coastal Range, eastern Taiwan

Exposed in the Coastal Range of eastern Taiwan is a portion of the Luzon volcanic arc that has collided with the South China continent since 6 Ma, as well as syn-orogenic sedimentary rocks deposited on the arc and subsequently intensely folded and thrusted. This study sampled syn-orogenic mudstones for the measurement of anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) at four sites on the sides of the range. The AMS fabrics reveal a contribution from burial compaction and, less significantly, tectonic shortening which varies slightly across the range. This lateral variation is considered as, for simplicity, a result of two-phase deformation because these rocks were involved in an eastward propagating back thrust system on the colliding arc. A new strain analysis method is developed to estimate the overall tectonic strain by unstraining the pseudo-strains with respect to the AMS measurements at each site with the knowledge about the distribution of the susceptibility ellipsoids in the unstrained state. Strain results reveal that shortening phases occurred before and after the folding, with a shortening ratio of 0.177–0.195 and 0.181–0.248, respectively. The post-folding shortening on the western side is sub-parallel to the range, and the pre-folding shortening on both sides is layer-parallel and nearly perpendicular to the range. Therefore, the mudstones underwent layer-parallel shortening, fold-related tilting and eventually orogen-parallel shortening after deposition. This sheds light on the complexity in deformation of the colliding Luzon arc.

Revealing the Circulation Pattern Most Conducive to Precipitation Extremes in Henan Province of North China

AbstractTwo catastrophic extreme precipitation events in July 2021 and August 1975 caused tremendous damages and deaths in Henan, one of the most populated provinces in China. Revealing the relationship between large‐scale circulation patterns and precipitation extremes is vital for understanding the physical mechanisms and providing potential value for improving prediction and hence reducing impacts. Here, nine large‐scale circulation patterns are identified for July–August using the self‐organizing map. We find daily precipitation extremes under the fifth pattern (P5), characterized with the strongest easterly wind anomalies in Henan, feature the highest frequency and the largest intensity. Seven out of total 11 days in the two catastrophic extreme precipitation events belong to P5, and the top two maximum hourly precipitation extremes over continental China occurred under P5. The larger intensity of precipitation extremes is attributed to the dynamical contribution, suggesting more‐intense precipitation extremes under P5 are largely dominated by stronger ascending motions.

An Overview and New Species of Arthromacra W. Kirby, 1837 (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Lagriinae) from Continental China, the Korean and Indochinese Peninsula

Arthromacra W. Kirby, 1837 is a rather small genus of colourful Lagriinae Latreille, 1825 (Tenebrionidae Latreille, 1802) distributed in the Holarctic and Oriental realms. In the present paper the following two new species from continental China are described and illustrated: Arthromacra distincta sp. nov. (Southwest China: Yunnan) and A. zhongtiao sp. nov. (Central China: Shaanxi). Arthromacra caerulescens (Pic, 1914) and A. donckieri (Pic, 1910) are redescribed based on the study of the name-bearing types and new material. An updated key to Arthromacra species from mainland China and the Korean Peninsula is presented. A checklist of Arthromacra of the Oriental Region is presented.

Revision of the Tomoderinae (Coleoptera: Anthicidae). Part III. New species and records of Macrotomoderus Pic, 1901 from China and a key to the Palaearctic species

Descriptions of the following 23 species of Macrotomoderus Pic, 1901 new to science, from continental China, are provided as an addition to the recently published review of the genus from China and Taiwan (Telnov 2018): M. angelinii, M. belousovi, M. bicrispus, M. boops, M. bordonii, M. dali, M. daxiangling, M. femoridens, M. hajeki, M. hartmanni, M. hengduan, M. imitator, M. kabaki, M. korolevi, M. lapidarius, M. muli, M. palaung, M. similis, M. tenuis, M. transitans, M. truncatulus, M. usitatus, and M. wudu spp. nov. Additional records are provided for some poorly known species. The identification key to the species of Macrotomoderus from China, the Japanese Archipelago, and Taiwan is herewith significantly supplemented and updated. Biogeographical peculiarities and altitudinal gradient of Macrotomoderus distribution in continental China are briefly discussed.