Chinese Science Bulletin Research Articles

Yuan Longping, a great world hunger fighter

Yuan Longping, a great world hunger fighter

China Carbon Neutralization Research Status and Research Frontier Tracking

In the context of global joint response to climate change, carbon neutralization has become one of the main measures for governments, enterprises, and even individuals around the world to deal with global warming. This article explores the current research status and frontier trends in the field of carbon neutralization, which can not only provide theoretical reference for the follow-up research of carbon neutralization but also provide useful ideas for the policy-making of carbon neutralization. The study is built on the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) Core Journals Database, the Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index database, and the Chinese Science Citation Database as the literature retrieval database platform. Using CiteSpace optical measurement software, 370 pieces of literature in the field of carbon neutrality research in China were systematically analyzed to track the situation and impact of research by various research institutions and prominent authors in China in this field and to analyze the research hotspots in this field, which is of great significance for the follow-up research of carbon neutrality. The research results show that 1) the number of publications in China’s carbon-neutral field has increased significantly with the change of years and has strong development potential. 2) Journals with many articles are more concentrated and are generally published in three journals: Natural Gas Industry, Proceedings of the CSEE, and Chinese Science Bulletin. 3) In terms of the major research institutions, the Institute of National Conditions of Tsinghua University, the School of Public Administration of Tsinghua University, the School of Grammar of Beijing University of Technology, and the Economic Development Research Center of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration have published more articles and muscular scientific research strength in the field of carbon neutrality. 4) In terms of the principal authors, four typical research teams have been set up: low-carbon economy, low-carbon cycle, carbon trading, sewage carbon neutrality, environmental science, and resource utilization, and the authors of each research team cooperate closely. 5) In the future, the research hotspots in China’s carbon-neutral field are still the themes of carbon emission reduction, green and low carbon, new energy, etc., and the research hotspots have begun to shift to the concept of development, from the very beginning of environmental protection and carbon emission reduction to the current new energy development. Carbon neutrality is currently a hot research field in China, and in the future, special attention should be paid to the full use of machine learning and extensive data mining to solve complex social, economic, and ecological problems. It is suggested that China should introduce the concepts of “common but differentiated responsibilities” and “consumer responsibility” in the international climate change negotiations in the formulation of carbon neutralization policies, so as to fully protect the right to the development of China’s underdeveloped regions and avoid the injustice caused by the blind formulation of carbon neutralization policies.Systematic Review Registration: [https://review.frontiersin.org/review/896524/16/1295417/#tab/History]

Research Trends and Focus on the Deserts of Northern China: A Bibliometric Analysis During 1986–2020

With the economic progress and scientific development since the 1980s, research on deserts in China has advanced remarkably. Many research outputs have been published, especially in recent years. However, a systematic review and quantitative analysis of these publications has been lacking. Here, we conducted a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the main deserts in China in order to characterize the trends and temporal changes in publications. Because the first publication was found in 1986, we searched all publications from 1986 to 2020. We found that annual publication output increased exponentially, especially after 2012, and that the Tengger Desert, the Taklimakan Desert, and the Horqin Sandy Land were the most intensively studied areas. Earth science, involving environmental science and ecology, geology, and agriculture were the major research fields. In addition, Journal of Arid Land, Chinese Science Bulletin, and Catena were the journals with the largest number of publications. The Chinese Academy of Sciences produced the largest number of publications, wherein, Li X R, Zhao X Y, and Zhang Y M were the three most productive authors. Noticeably, “climate change” has become a frequent topic since 2010, indicating that more attention has been paid to climate change and alleviating anthropogenic disturbances in desert areas in China. Although Chinese authors contributed the most publications, the average number of citations per publication for Chinese authors was relatively low. Our results highlight that authors should continue to improve the number of citations of their publications and pay more attention to the interactions between climate change and desertification in the deserts research of Northern China in the futures.

Zuyu Chen: All are equal before the journal | An interview at the 70th anniversary of Science China and Chinese Science Bulletin

Zuyu Chen: All are equal before the journal | An interview at the 70th anniversary of Science China and Chinese Science Bulletin

Application of ensemble Kalman filter in WRF model to forecast rainfall on monsoon onset period in South Vietnam

Application of ensemble Kalman filter in WRF model to forecast rainfall on monsoon onset period in South Vietnam

The publication process of the article on the chemical structure of artemisinin on <italic>Chinese Science Bulletin</italic>: A tribute to the 40th anniversary publication of “Artemisinin: A new type of sesquiterpene lactone”

On March 1977, an article named “Artemisinin: a new type of sesquiterpene lactone” was published on the Vol.22, No.3 of Chinese Science Bulletin . The author of the article is “Coordinating Research Group for the Structure of Artemisinin”, and the date of reception is February 20th, 1976. Based on original documents, the author of this paper studies the background and progress of the publication of this important article, in which he reveals the influence on Youyou Tu’s winning 2015 Noble Prize in Physiology or Medicine. The author of this paper points out: (ⅰ) the decision of publishing the research on the structure of Artemisinin through Chinese Science Bulletin was made by Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine; Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences after negotiation, and granted by Office 523, the agency managed the Artemisia Anti-Malaria Project. (ⅱ) The purpose of publication is to “win an honor for mother country and take the advantage to publish the results prior to the overseas counterpart”, because “Yugoslavia is conducting a research on Artemisia and has reported the chemical structure of one crystal”. (ⅲ) Two measures were taken then due to confidentiality requirement. The first one was the publication was in the name of Coordinating Research Group for the Structure of Artemisinin, instead of independent agencies. The second one was the article should only deal with the chemical structure of Artemisinin, and no description of its anti-malaria effect would appear in the article. But because of objections, no catering to “the need of pharmacy speculators from capitalist countries” or “the utilitarianism of unevolved intellectuals” is allowed, of the former Minister of Health, Xiangpin Liu, the article could not be published right on time. After the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica applied to issue the article again, and the Ministry of Health granted publishing the article on February 25th, 1977. Since Institute of Chinese Materia Medica is not only the leading agency in the publication of the article, but also the initiator of the structural confirmation of Artemisinin and the earliest provider of Artemisinin crystals, Youyou Tu, the former director of Artemisia Anti-Malaria Project in the institute, is considered as the major contributor to the article without controversy when the institute held her as the biggest hero of the project, unless there are direct evidences indicating the institute is wrong. In all, the author of this paper concludes that the article, which is as thin as only one page and was issued on Chinese Science Bulletin , is the first article on the Artemisinin research in China, and it holds a magnificent significance to Youyou Tu’s winning Noble Prize.

Limits of Acetonitrile Dryness Via Molecular Sieve Method

Acetonitrile (MeCN) is a common solvent in synthetic chemistry and electrochemistry where it is often used when a polar, aprotic solvent is needed.1,2 In the past few years, the importance of controlling water content of aprotic solvents has been pointed out several times2,3 and the suggestion of allowing the solution to sit for a time over 3A molecular sieves has been proposed.4 There should be no surprise that there is a definite limit to the utility of this method, as complexes with closely spaced Lewis acids and bases have been shown to have catalytic effects in the past5 and molecular sieves often consist of main group metal oxides and halides. We report here a definite limit to solvent dryness where MeCN left over 3A molecular sieves for more than a few days will decay into one or more products that include acidic goups, aromatic groups, and one or more functional groups that will adhere to an electrode surface after a reduction/oxidation cycle. We present CV experiments involving duroquinone (DQ) as a probe molecule to show how surface coverage of the electrode differs between three common electrode materials—Pt, Au, and glassy carbon—changes over time, and also how CV characteristics typical of protonation show up after just allowing the MeCN to sit over the molecular sieves for a little while. Finally, we use NMR spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry to gain some understanding of the identity of the one or more decay products. 1. D. Bradley, G. Williams, and Michelle Lawton. “Drying fo Organic Solvents: Quantitative Evaluation of the Efficiency of Several Desiccants”. J. Org. Chem. (2010) Vol. 75, iss. 24, pp. 8351-8354. 2.Yanlan Hui, Elaine Lay Khim Chng, Cheryl Yi Lin Chng, Hwee Ling Poh, and Richard D. Webster. “Hydrogen-Bonding Interactions between Water and the One- and Two- Electron-Reduced Forms of Vitamin K1: Applying Quinone Electrochemistry To Determine the Moisture Content of Non-Aqueous Solvents”. J. Am. Chem. Soc. (2009) Vol. 131, iss. 4, pp. 1523-1534. 3. Patrick A. Staley, Eric M. Lopez, Laurie A. Clare, and Diane K. Smith. “Kinetic Stabilization of Quinone Dianions via Hydrogen Bonding by Water in Aprotic Solvents”. J. Phys. Chem. C. (2015) Vol. 119, iss. 35, pp. 20319-20327. 4. Malcolm E. Tessensohn, Hajime Hirao, and Richard D. Webster. “Electrochemical Properties of Phenols and Quinones in Organic Solvents are Strongly Influenced by Hydrogen-Bonding with Water”. J. Phys. Chem. C. (2013) Vol. 117, iss. 2, pp. 1081-1090. 5. Deng Zhaoxiang, Qui Wenfeng, Li Weijia, and Li Yadong. “Cyclotrimerization of nitriles catalyzed by Li3N”. Chinese Science Bulletin. (2004) Vol. 49, No. 2, pp. 127-130.

Reply to “Is the garnet amphibolite in the Longyou a retrograde eclogite?”

Our paper titled “Retrograde garnet amphibolite from eclogite of the Zhejiang Longyou area: New evidence of the Caledonian orogenic event in the Cathaysia block” was recently published in Chinese Science Bulletin (Chen et al., 2015). A comment by Prof. Yu Jinhai and Prof. Shu Liangshu from Nanjing University argued against our conclusions. They suggested that there were no typical coronas of plagioclase+quartz around garnet porphyroblast and omphacite pseudomorph, as indicated by clinopyroxene+plagioclase symplectites (actually intergrowths). Moreover, they argued that the early paleozoic tectonic system, i.e., the intraplate orogeny model, was inconsistent with eclogite-facies metamorphism. In this reply, we once again presented our detailed field investigation, petrographic observations and mineral compositions studies. We carefully and seriously replied their questions one by one. We emphasized that the Longyou garnet amphibolite was a retrograde eclogite, which is genetically related to the Caledonian collisional orogenic event between the South China Block and an unknown block in the process of their assemblage to eastern Gondwana.

Is the garnet amphibolite in the Longyou a retrograded eclogite?

A paper titled as “Retrograde garnet amphibolite from eclogite of the Zhejiang Longyou area: New evidence of the Caledonian orogenic event in the Cathaysia block” was recently published in Chinese Science Bulletin (Chen et al., 2015). However, the petrographic features and mineral compositions that authors provided cannot demonstrate that high-pressure or ultra-high pressure metamorphism occurred in the area in Early Paleozoic. Moreover, this conclusion is inconsistent with regional geological background. Combined with our field survey and petrographic observations, it can be inferred that this garnet amphibolite did not experience eclogite-facies metamorphism, and cannot be taken as evidence for the Caledonian collisional orogeny.

From Chinese Science Bulletin to Science Bulletin: celebrate the coming 50th birthday

From Chinese Science Bulletin to Science Bulletin: celebrate the coming 50th birthday

Low Doped n-type Localized Porous Silicon Made by Hole Injection from Back-side p+/n Junction for Power Switches Application

Power switches are often present in electrical domestic environment directly connected to the mains supply. This kind of component operates in two principal modes, i.e. ON-mode and OFF-mode. The OFF-mode depends on the device periphery insulation capacity. Glass passivated grooves in the silicon are currently used giving good performances for reasonable cost. Changing this technology would permit higher wafer diameter and packaging simplification. Porous silicon (PS) is a potential candidate thanks to its electrical insulating behavior [1]. However, the usual substrate type and doping for such devices are n-type silicon and 1.1014 cm-3 respectively. At this doping level, porous silicon formation needs hole supply from an external source to avoid breakdown mechanism [1]. This can be achieved by either electron-hole pairs generation by illumination [2] or hole injection from a back-side p+/n junction [3][4]. This study focused on the second technique, which is easier to integrate in an industrial microelectronic process. Indeed, the presence in the active area (ON-mode) of a p+ region on the rear side could be used as a hole source. This junction is realized by boron implantation followed by an annealing. During the electrochemical etching, the p+/n junction needs to be forward biased to inject holes toward the anodic surface (Fig 1). Then, carrier lifetime must be sufficient to let holes cross n-type bulk silicon, featured by its thickness d (Fig 1). First, a simplified case of non-localized p+/n junction is investigated (Fig 1). The influence of anodization parameters such as the current density and the electrolyte composition (additives) is presented for high HF concentration. A comparison with illumination technique is also discussed. Whatever the process case, the resulting PS morphology consists of a double layer (Fig 2): with a nucleation layer composed of mesopores and a macroporous layer filled with mesopores. To the best of our knowledge, this morphology has not been analyzed for low doped n-type silicon in the literature though it was mentioned in [5]. Electrical transverse characterization in DC (-10 to 10 V) of an Aluminum/PS/Si/Aluminum stack shows a gain in resistivity of 106Ω.cm compared to bulk silicon which is promising for the application. As PS will be only present in the device periphery, a study of its localization is investigated. The resulting masking issues are analyzed. 1. M. Bouaïcha, M. Khardani and B. Bessaïs, Material Science and Engineering, C26, 486 (2006). 2. V. Lehmann, J. Electrochem. Soc., 140, 2836 (1993). 3. X. Badel , J. Linnros and P. Kleimann,, Electrochem. and solid-state letters, 6, C79 (2003). 4. L. Coudron, G. Gautier, B. Morillon, S. Kouassi, T. Defforge and L. Ventura, Electrochem. and solid-state letters, 14, H24 (2011). 5. X.Q. Bao, D.H. Ge, S. Zhang, L. Zhao, J.W. Jiao and Y.L. Wang, Chinese Science Bulletin, 54 (7), 1143 (2009). Figure 1

Higgs precision measurements and flavor physics: a supersymmetric example

[Review for "Chinese Science Bulletin" and CEPC+SPPC Proposal] Rare decays in flavor physics often suffer from Helicity suppress and Loop suppress. Helicity flip is a direct consequence of chiral $U(3)$ symmetry breaking and electroweak symmetry breaking. The identical feature is also shared by the mass generation of SM fermions. In this review, we use MSSM as an example to illustrate an explicit connection between bottom Yukawa coupling and rare decay process of $b\to s\gamma$. We take a symmetry approach to study the common symmetry breaking in supersymmetric correction to bottom quark mass generation and $b\to s\gamma$. We show that Large Peccei-Quinn symmetry breaking effect and $R$-symmetry breaking effect required by $b\to s\gamma$ inevitably lead to significant reduction of bottom Yukawa ${y}_{b}$. To compromise the reduction in $b\bar{b}$, a new decay is also needed to keep the Higgs total width as the SM value.

A small but important step to enhance groundwater research in China

Sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Science Bulletin ( CSB ) is one of the well-known comprehensive academic journals of wide impacts in the field of natural sciences in China. Groundwater research has become increasingly important due to the long-term and high-speed social and economic development of our country.

Development of Science China Chemistry during 2008–2012: From the perspective of Special Issues/Topics

Science China Press Co., Ltd. (SCP) is a science and technology (ST) journal publishing company of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). SCP publishes 16 kinds of academic journals, Science China Series and Chinese Science Bulletin, of which 8 journals are in English and 8 in Chinese. Science China Series cover mathematics, chemistry, life sciences, earth sciences, technological sciences, information sciences and physics. Starting from 1950, these journals have conveyed the high-quality and original results in both basic and applied research in China, and made a great contribution to the academic communication and development. Since 1996, Springer has joined as the exclusive agency of the 8 English journals, which are available at the SpringerLink web platform. Science China Chemistry (renamed Science China Series B: Chemistry since 2010) is a peer-reviewed comprehensive international journal and devoted to the publication of the fundamental and innovative research in all fields of chemistry. The journal is published monthly and includes Feature Articles, Reviews, Communications, Articles and News & Comments. The prime criteria for judging the quality of contributions will be their originality, significance, and novelty. In the past decade, with a spurt of progress in scientific researches, the fundamental research of chemical science in China has begun to integrate with the world’s cutting-edge study of chemistry. The output of published papers in the field of chemistry gradually increased, as well as the number of cited papers and the number of citations. The total number of papers published in the SCI (Science Citation Index) journals in the field of chemistry from China ranked the second all over the world. However, most of the important research results have been published in foreign ST journals, meanwhile, the copyright has also been transferred to the foreign publishers. Contrary to the growing international impact in chemical researches, the development of ST journals in China is far behind the international level. Chinese journals of chemistry play little roles on the international ST journals stage. In order to change this situation and build the flagship brand of Chinese ST journals, the reform of journals in SCP was proposed in 2005, and the “Reform Plan of Science in China and Chinese Science Bulletin” was carried out in 2008. Guided by the “Reform Plan of Science in China and Chinese Science Bulletin” proposed in 2008, the reform of Science China Chemistry includes three aspects: (1) administrative system: Science China Chemistry was managed on the platform of Academic Divisions of the CAS, and the new editorial board was founded; (2) journal-publishing system: the publication period was changed from bimonthly to monthly; the authors don’t need to pay the publication fee; in 2009, the authors were not allowed to translate between English and Chinese; in 2010 the journal title was changed from Science China Series B: Chemistry to Science China Chemistry, and the cover paper was selected every issue; (3) editorial team construction: the first editorial office was founded.

Special Topic on Conservation Biology of Endangered Wildlife pushes conservation studies

In recent years Chinese Science Bulletin has published some work focused on environment, biodiversity and sustainability, etc. [1-10]. This has promoted the follow-up and in- depth research efforts, and to some extent, has accelerated the development of conservation studies on endangered animals and plants.

New Adeno-Associated Virus Strategies to Support Momentum in the Clinic

Human Gene TherapyVol. 22, No. 5 CommentaryNew Adeno-Associated Virus Strategies to Support Momentum in the ClinicJ. Fraser WrightJ. Fraser WrightSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:22 Apr 2011https://doi.org/10.1089/hum.2011.4080AboutSectionsView articleView Full TextPDF/EPUB Permissions & CitationsPermissionsDownload CitationsTrack CitationsAdd to favorites Back To Publication ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail View articleFiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited bySystematic Comparison and Validation of Quantitative Real-Time PCR Methods for the Quantitation of Adeno-Associated Viral Products Natalie Jayne Werling, Stifani Satkunanathan, Robin Thorpe, and Yuan Zhao7 May 2015 | Human Gene Therapy Methods, Vol. 26, No. 3Synergistic Antitumor Effect of Recombinant Adeno-Associated Virus-Mediated Pigment Epithelium-Derived Factor with Hyperthermia on Solid Tumor Qinjie Wu, Shasha He, Xiawei Wei, Bin Shao, Shuntao Luo, Fuchun Guo, Hailong Zhang, Yongsheng Wang, Changyang Gong, and Li Yang8 July 2014 | Human Gene Therapy, Vol. 25, No. 9Scalable manufacturing methodologies for improving adeno-associated virus-based pharmaprojects26 April 2014 | Chinese Science Bulletin, Vol. 59, No. 16Diabetic cardiomyopathy: Mechanisms and new treatment strategies targeting antioxidant signaling pathwaysPharmacology & Therapeutics, Vol. 142, No. 3A reliable and feasible qPCR strategy for titrating AAV vectors1 January 2013 | Medical Science Monitor Basic Research, Vol. 19Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase p110α Is a Master Regulator of Exercise-Induced Cardioprotection and PI3K Gene Therapy Rescues Cardiac DysfunctionCirculation: Heart Failure, Vol. 5, No. 4Analysis of Particle Content of Recombinant Adeno-Associated Virus Serotype 8 Vectors by Ion-Exchange Chromatography Martin Lock, Mauricio R. Alvira, and James M. Wilson4 January 2012 | Human Gene Therapy Methods, Vol. 23, No. 1Animal Models of HemophiliaAdeno-Associated Viral Vectors for Hereditary Emphysema; Progressing Along the Clinical Development Highway Barrie J. Carter1 November 2011 | Human Gene Therapy, Vol. 22, No. 10 Volume 22Issue 5May 2011 InformationCopyright 2011, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.To cite this article:J. Fraser Wright.New Adeno-Associated Virus Strategies to Support Momentum in the Clinic.Human Gene Therapy.May 2011.519-521.http://doi.org/10.1089/hum.2011.4080Published in Volume: 22 Issue 5: April 22, 2011PDF download

The background of the total synthesis of yeast alanine transfer RNA

The research findings concerning the total synthesis of yeast alanine transfer RNA (yeast alanine tRNA) were successively published in Chinese Science Bulletin (1982) and Science in China (1983) [1]. The research work started in 1968 and was finished in November 1981. It was the first artificial synthesis of a nucleic acid molecule, which followed the first artificial synthesis of protein, crystalline bovine insulin, in China in 1965, both scientific milestones occurring in China. The composition, sequence and biological functions of the synthesized nucleic acid were identical to those of the natural yeast alanine tRNA. The research lasted for 13 years. From 1982 to 1984, one of the investigators in charge of the research Prof. WANG DeBao (T.P. WANG) presented reports titled “the total synthesis of yeast alanine tRNA” on international symposia concerning tRNA and in leading universities and institutes of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan and West Germany, which were highly acclaimed.

Production of NiTi via the FFC Cambridge Process

The FFC Cambridge process is a direct electrodeoxidation process used to reduce metal oxides to their constituent metals in a molten salt bath. was used as a precursor (the first stable oxide to form upon blending and sintering NiO and powders) and was successfully reduced using the FFC Cambridge process at and a constant cell voltage of to produce a NiTi alloy. This work builds on the literature work [ Chinese Science Bulletin , 51 , 2535 (2006) ] through: (i) a predominance diagram calculated to show the regions of phase stability throughout the usable potential window of the salt; (ii) the investigation of a wide range of reduction times for a fixed cell voltage, elucidating several additional stable phases, to yield a complete and detailed reduction pathway. The reduction pathway for was identified through the analysis of a series of partial reductions, with fully reduced NiTi formed after a period of . The first stage of the reaction involved the rapid formation of Ni and . The reduction then proceeded via the formation of the intermediate compounds and . All the and Ni were consumed after a period of , while the intermediate compounds remained until the reaction was near completion. The experimental results related well to the thermodynamic predictions of the predominance diagram. A small variation in stoichiometry of the produced NiTi observed from the edge to the core of the samples was attributed to redeposition of Ti on the sample surface from the salt and a slightly Ti-rich precursor material.

New Light on the Earliest Hominid Occupation in East Asia

New Light on the Earliest Hominid Occupation in East Asia

The Liaonan metamorphic core complex, Southeastern Liaoning Province, North China: A likely contributor to Cretaceous rotation of Eastern Liaoning, Korea and contiguous areas

The Mesozoic Liaonan metamorphic core complex (mcc) of the southeastern Liaoning province, North China, is an asymmetric Cordilleran-style complex with a west-rooting master detachment fault, the Jinzhou fault. A thick sequence of lower plate, fault-related mylonitic and gneissic rocks derived from Archean and Early Cretaceous crystalline protoliths has been transported ESE-ward from mid-crustal depths. U–Pb ages of lower plate syntectonic plutons (ca. 130–120 Ma), 40Ar– 39Ar cooling ages in the mylonitic and gneissic sequence (ca. 120–110 Ma), and a Cretaceous supradetachment basin attest to the Early Cretaceous age of this extensional complex. The recent discovery of the coeval and similarly west-rooting Waziyu mcc in western Liaoning [Darby, B.J., Davis, G.A., Zhang, X., Wu, F., Wilde, S., Yang, J., 2004. The newly discovered Waziyu metamorphic core complex, Yiwulushan, western Liaoning Province, North China. Earth Science Frontiers 11, 145–155] indicates that the Gulf of Liaoning, which lies between the two complexes, was the center of a region of major crustal extension. Clockwise crustal rotation of a large region including eastern Liaoning province and the Korean Peninsula with respect to a non-rotated North China block has been conclusively documented by paleomagnetic studies over the past decade. The timing of this rotation and the reasons for it are controversial. Lin et al. [Lin, W., Chen, Y., Faure, M., Wang, Q., 2003. Tectonic implication of new Late Cretaceous paleomagnetic constraints from Eastern Liaoning Peninsula, NE China. Journal of Geophysical Research 108 (B-6) (EPM 5-1 to 5-17)] proposed that a clockwise rotation of 22.5° ± 10.2° was largely post-Early Cretaceous in age, and was the consequence of extension within a crustal domain that tapers southwards towards the Bohai Sea (of which the Gulf of Liaoning is the northernmost part). Paleomagnetic studies of Early Cretaceous strata (ca 134–120 Ma) in the Yixian–Fuxin supradetachment basin of the Waziyu mcc indicate the non-rotation of North China and the basin [Zhu, R.X., Shao, J.A., Pan, Y.X., Shi, R.P., Shi, G.H., Li, D.M., 2002. Paleomagnetic data from Early Cretaceous volcanic rocks of West Liaoning: evidence for intracontinental rotation. Chinese Science Bulletin 47, 1832–1837]. Such upper-plate non-rotation supports our conclusion that the lower plates of the Waziyu and Liaonan metamorphic core complexes were displaced ESE-ward in an absolute sense away from the stable North China block, thus contributing to the rotation of Korea and contiguous areas. Rotation is inferred to have affected only the upper crust above mid-crustal levels into which we believe the Jinzhou and Waziyu detachment fault zones flattened. If this is the case, the regional Tan Lu fault that lies between the two core complexes was truncated at mid-crustal depth, since in areas to the south it forms the boundary between the North and South China lithospheric blocks. It is noteworthy that the two extensional complexes lie not far north of the Bohai Bay, the area proposed by Lin et al. [Lin, W., Chen, Y., Faure, M., Wang, Q., 2003. Tectonic implication of new Late Cretaceous paleomagnetic constraints from Eastern Liaoning Peninsula, NE China. Journal of Geophysical Research 108 (B-6) (EPM 5-1 to 5-17)] as the site of the pole of rotation for Korea's clockwise displacement. Lin et al. [Lin, W., Chen, Y., Faure, M., Wang, Q., 2003. Tectonic implication of new Late Cretaceous paleomagnetic constraints from Eastern Liaoning Peninsula, NE China. Journal of Geophysical Research 108 (B-6) (EPM 5-1 to 5-17)] were unaware of the Liaonan and Waziyu mcc's and argued that most of the regional block rotation was post-Early Cretaceous and, in part, early Cenozoic. However, the ca. 130–120 Ma ages of the two Liaoning mcc's and a Songliao basin mcc (Xujiaweizi), the latter discovered only by recent drilling through its younger stratigraphic cover, support our and some Korean coworkers' conclusions that most of the clockwise rotation was Early Cretaceous.