In order to understand Holocene paleoenvironmental evolution of the western Sunda Shelf (southern South China Sea), two gravity cores TER15-GC10A and TER15-GC9A were collected (2015) 33 and 37 km offshore of Kuala Terengganu (KT), Peninsular Malaysia at ca. 60 m water depth. The cores were sampled every 1 cm and analyzed for three paleoenvironmental proxies; 1) bulk sediment magnetic susceptibility (BMS); 2) elemental analysis by x-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry, and 3) foraminiferal content. Radiocarbon age estimates indicate that cores have a maximum age of ca. 8,400 cal. yr BP. BMS values decrease up-core (1.95 x 10-4-1.04 x 10-4 SI). XRF data also indicate a decrease up-core for Al (12.82%-17.05%), Fe (5.45%-3.65%), and Ti (0.78%-0.61%) with an inverse relationship to the concentration of Ca (3.29%-7.77%). This is interpreted to reflect a decrease in amount of terrestrial material supplied to the shelf over the last ca. 8,400 years, a dilution of detrital material by the local productivity of marine carbonates, and/or a stabilization of sea level. Cluster analysis indicates four groups of benthic foraminifera within the two cores. Within all four clusters Textularia sp. A, Heterolepa dutemplei, Asterorotalia milletti, and Hanzawaia nipponica were the most abundant species. Within three of the four groups, Textularia sp. A was the most abundant. Benthic foraminiferal assemblages, along with the presence of planktonic foraminifera suggest an open inner-shelf marine environment. Within the two cores, three paleoenvironmental episodes were recognized. The first episode occurred from ca. 8,400 cal. yr BP to ca. 6,500 cal. yr BP and was characterized by relatively high terrigenous input. At the beginning of this episode, sea level was at about -5 m rising to a maximum height of around +5 m by the mid-Holocene highstand (6,500 BP). The second episode (6,500 cal. yr BP-4,000 cal. yr BP) was transitional, from the relatively high influence of terrigenous material to a third episode, which ranged from 4,000 cal. yr BP-1,000 cal. yr BP, and was characterized by lower terrigenous influence and higher marine influence. During this episode, sea-level fell to its current position.

Post-Last Glacial Maximum (since ca. 20,000 cal yr BP) sediments of the Sunda Shelf (southern South China Sea) are generally thin, with the exception of incised valleys where thicker accumulations tend to occur. These valleys provide a sedimentary record that preserves Holocene environmental changes. In the summer of 2014, two ca. 2 m gravity cores were collected on the Sunda Shelf in ca. 60 m of water ca. 52 km from the mouth of the Terengganu River off northeast peninsular Malaysia. Both cores were sampled in 1 cm contiguous intervals and analyzed for magnetic susceptibility of bulk sediment (BMS), elemental composition (X-ray fluorescence, XRF), and oxygen and carbon stable isotopes on the planktonic foraminifer Globigerinoides ruber. The chronology of the cores, based upon eight AMS radiocarbon age estimates on the benthic foraminifer Cavarotalia annectens, covers most of the Holocene. According to previous work, the Holocene evolution of the Sunda Shelf was largely controlled by the transgression of the South China Sea (SCS) shoreline following the Last Glacial Maximum. Several sea-level curves suggest sea level in the area had reached ca. -60 m by the start of the Holocene (ca. 11,700 cal yr BP). According to this study, at ca. 10,000 cal yr BP, the Sunda Shelf off northeast Peninsular Malaysia was already covered by ca. 30 m of water, evident by the presence of benthic foraminifera and marine mud throughout both cores. The study area transitioned from a shallow, muddy, nearshore environment to an open shelf environment (ca. 60 m water depth and at least 50 km from shore) during the 10,000 - 6,400 cal yr BP time interval. This is indicated by steadily decreasing Al, Ti, and Fe concentrations up-core, steadily increasing Ca concentrations up-core, and the first occurrence of planktonic foraminifera at ca. 7,000 cal yr BP. Between 6,000 - 4,000 cal yr BP, previous studies indicate the mid-Holocene sea-level highstand was reached. This study suggests the presence of a possible diastem at ca. 6,400 cal yr BP in TER14-GC5 based on an abrupt change in BMS and XRF data, which could be related to the maximum flooding surface. Core TER14-GC7 reveals the same shift in elemental and BMS trends at ca. 6,400 cal yr BP, but the transition is more gradual. The up-core profile of XRF and BMS trends reveal a shift from higher BMS values to lower BMS values, steady Ca concentrations, and higher but fluctuating presence of planktonic foraminifera after ca. 6,400 cal yr BP. The changes recorded by the two cores during the ca. 6,400 - present time interval are interpreted as the late transgressive systems tract transitioning to the highstand systems tract (HST). The HST is typically characterized by fine-grained sediments, with abundant foraminifera, that were deposited as the rate of sea-level rise slowed. However, the changes recorded during this time interval could also be explained by a decrease in precipitation in the area, possibly due to a decrease in monsoon intensity. Further investigation is needed to properly understand the time interval from ca. 6,400 cal yr BP - present in order to determine whether trends in the data sets are due to climate or other environmental change.

Geology of the China Seas represents the first English-language synthesis of the available research into the geology of the South and East China Seas. Among the marginal basins worldwide, these areas have been the focus of extensive research activities in the last three decades, and are now among the global hot spots in hydrocarbon explorations and scientific investigations. The region is experiencing rapid economic development with the offshore petroleum industry providing approximately one third of the domestic hydrocarbon production for mainland China. Gas hydrates have been successfully recovered from the China Seas for the first time. Over the years, many volumes on the geology of the China Seas have been published in Chinese. Although an increasing number of papers in English have appeared recently, the majority deal with local or regional paleo-environment and sedimentology, and are scattered in different journals. This book brings together this rich data in one resource, particularly that generated by Chinese marine geologists and petroleum geologists, and provides the very first synthesis of the geology off China. The first systematic summary of the geology of the China Seas Includes comprehensive coverage of the South China Sea and the East China Sea, including the Yellow Sea and Bohai Gulf Reviews hundreds of Chinese publications on marine and petroleum geology not currently accessible to the international community

This long-awaited book about non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs) aims to cover gaps in our knowledge of these abundant but understudied palynological remains. NPPs, such as fungal spores, testate amoebae, dinoflagellate cysts, acritarchs and animal remains, are routinely recovered from palynological preparations of marine or terrestrial material, from Proterozoic to recent geological times. This book gives the reader a comprehensive overview of the different types of NPPs, with examples from diverse time periods and environments. It provides guidance on sample preparation to maximize the recovery of these NPPs, detailed information on their diversity and ecological affinity, clarification on the nomenclature and demonstrates their value as environmental indicators. This volume will become the reference guide for any student, academic or practitioner interested in everything else in their palynological preparations.

A comprehensive, state-of-the-art synthesis of biogeochemical dynamics and the impact of human alterations at major river-coastal interfaces for advanced students and researchers.

The goal of this book is to provide a current overview of the impacts of climate change on tropical forests, to investigate past, present, and future climatic influences on the ecosystems with the highest biodiversity on the planet.Tropical Rainforest Responses to Climatic Change will be the first book to examine how tropical rain forest ecology is altered by climate change, rather than simply seeing how plant communities were altered. Shifting the emphasis onto ecological processes e.g. how diversity is structured by climate and the subsequent impact on tropical forest ecology, provides the reader with a more comprehensive coverage. A major theme of this book that emerges progressively is the interaction between humans, climate and forest ecology. While numerous books have appeared dealing with forest fragmentation and conservation, none have explicitly explored the long term occupation of tropical systems, the influence of fire and the future climatic effects of deforestation, coupled with anthropogenic emissions. Incorporating modelling of past and future systems paves the way for a discussion of conservation from a climatic perspective, rather than the usual plea to stop logging.

Despite the obvious geographic importance of eastern Asia in human migration, its discussion in the context of the emergence and dispersal of modern humans has been rare. Emergence and Diversity of Modern Human Behavior in Paleolithic Asia focuses long-overdue scholarly attention on this under-studied area of the world. Arising from a 2011 symposium sponsored by the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo, this book gathers the work of archaeologists from the Pacific Rim of Asia, Australia, and North America, to address the relative lack of attention given to the emergence of modern human behavior as manifested in Asia during the worldwide dispersal from Africa.