Showing papers on "Far East published in 2005"

The great Sumatra-Andaman earthquake of 26 December 2004

Abstract: The two largest earthquakes of the past 40 years ruptured a 1600-kilometer-long portion of the fault boundary between the Indo-Australian and southeastern Eurasian plates on 26 December 2004 [seismic moment magnitude (Mw) = 9.1 to 9.3] and 28 March 2005 (Mw = 8.6). The first event generated a tsunami that caused more than 283,000 deaths. Fault slip of up to 15 meters occurred near Banda Aceh, Sumatra, but to the north, along the Nicobar and Andaman Islands, rapid slip was much smaller. Tsunami and geodetic observations indicate that additional slow slip occurred in the north over a time scale of 50 minutes or longer.

Single, rapid coastal settlement of Asia revealed by analysis of complete mitochondrial genomes.

Abstract: A recent dispersal of modern humans out of Africa is now widely accepted, but the routes taken across Eurasia are still disputed. We show that mitochondrial DNA variation in isolated “relict” populations in southeast Asia supports the view that there was only a single dispersal from Africa, most likely via a southern coastal route, through India and onward into southeast Asia and Australasia. There was an early offshoot, leading ultimately to the settlement of the Near East and Europe, but the main dispersal from India to Australia ∼65,000 years ago was rapid, most likely taking only a few thousand years.

Role of the Tibetan Plateau thermal forcing in the summer climate patterns over subtropical Asia

Abstract: The mechanism of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) thermal forcing in influencing the summer climate patterns over subtropical Asia is investigated by means of NCEP/NCAR reanalysis diagnosis. Results show that since the TP is a huge elevated heating source with the strongest heating in the surface layers in summer, the thermal adaptation results in a shallow cyclonic circulation near the surface and a deep anticyclonic circulation above it. According to the steady barotropic vorticity equation for large scales, airflow must converge in the lower layers and diverge in the higher layers over the eastern side of the TP. However, the western side of the TP is characterized by a reversed structure, i.e., divergence in lower layers but convergence in higher layers. Hence, pumping and sucking processes bring in upward and downward movement over the east and west sides of the TP, respectively. Such a circulation is embedded in the large-scale circulation that is forced by the Eurasian continental heating. Because the TP together with Iran Plateau are located at the central and eastern parts of the continent, and, because the orography-induced circulation is in phase with the continental scale circulation, the role of the TP thermal forcing is to intensify the East Asian monsoon to its east and the dry and hot desert climate in mid-Asia to its west. The summertime thermal forcing of the Rockies and Andes can generate similar circulations along the two subtopics as the TP does since they are located near the western coasts. But, the lower troposphere poleward flow that is induced by orographic thermal forcing does not coincide with the poleward flows over the eastern coastal region that is induced by continental heating and the monsoon rainfall in North and South America is not as strong as in East Asia. However, the equatorward flow and the associated subsidence induced by the two mountain ranges along the western coasts of both North and South America are in phase with those induced by continental heating. These contribute to the formation of the stable low stratus clouds and strong long-wave radiative cooling over the eastern subtropical Pacific regions just off the western coast of the continent.

Columnar aerosol optical properties at AERONET sites in central eastern Asia and aerosol transport to the tropical mid‐Pacific

Abstract: [1] The column-integrated optical properties of aerosol in the central eastern region of Asia and midtropical Pacific were investigated based on Sun/sky radiometer measurements made at Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) sites in these regions. Characterization of aerosol properties in the Asian region is important due to the rapid growth of both population and economic activity, with associated increases in fossil fuel combustion, and the possible regional and global climatic impacts of related aerosol emissions. Multiyear monitoring over the complete annual cycle at sites in China, Mongolia, South Korea, and Japan suggest spring and/or summer maximum in aerosol optical depth (τa) and a winter minimum; however, more monitoring is needed to establish accurate climatologies. The annual cycle of Angstrom wavelength exponent (α) showed a springtime minimum associated with dust storm activity; however, the monthly mean α440–870 was >0.8 even for the peak dust season at eastern Asian sites suggesting that fine mode pollution aerosol emitted from population centers in eastern Asia dominates the monthly aerosol optical influence even in spring as pollution aerosol mixes with coarse mode dust originating in western source regions. Aerosol optical depth peaks in spring in the tropical mid-Pacific Ocean associated with seasonal shifts in atmospheric transport from Asia, and ∼35% of the springtime τa500 enhancement occurs at altitudes above 3.4 km. For predominately fine mode aerosol pollution cases, the average midvisible (∼550 nm) single scattering albedo (ω0) at two continental urban sites in China averaged ∼0.89, while it was significantly higher, ∼0.93, at two relatively rural coastal sites in South Korea and Japan. Differences in fine mode absorption between these regions may result from a combination of factors including aerosol aging during transport, relative humidity differences, sea salt at coastal sites, and fuel type and combustion differences in the two regions. For cases where τa was predominately coarse mode dust aerosol in the spring of 2001, the absorption was greater in eastern Asia compared to the source regions, with ω0 at Dunhuang, China (near to the major Taklamakan dust source), ∼0.04 higher than at Beijing at all wavelengths, and Anmyon, South Korea, showing an intermediate level of absorption. Possible reasons for differences in dust absorption magnitude include interactions between dust and fine mode pollution aerosol and also variability of dust optical properties from different source regions in China and Mongolia.

Y-Chromosome Evidence of Southern Origin of the East Asian–Specific Haplogroup O3-M122

Abstract: The prehistoric peopling of East Asia by modern humans remains controversial with respect to early population migrations Here, we present a systematic sampling and genetic screening of an East Asian–specific Y-chromosome haplogroup (O3-M122) in 2,332 individuals from diverse East Asian populations Our results indicate that the O3-M122 lineage is dominant in East Asian populations, with an average frequency of 443% The microsatellite data show that the O3-M122 haplotypes in southern East Asia are more diverse than those in northern East Asia, suggesting a southern origin of the O3-M122 mutation It was estimated that the early northward migration of the O3-M122 lineages in East Asia occurred ∼25,000–30,000 years ago, consistent with the fossil records of modern humans in East Asia

Coseismic deformation of the 2001 Mw = 7.8 Kokoxili earthquake in Tibet, measured by synthetic aperture radar interferometry

Abstract: The 14 November 2001, M w = 7.8, Kokoxili earthquake ruptured more than 400 km of the westernmost stretch of the left-lateral Kunlun fault in northern Tibet. Interferometric synthetic aperture radar data from descending orbits, along four adjacent tracks covering almost the entire rupture, and 1-m pixel Ikonos satellite images are used to map the rupture geometry and the surface displacements produced by the event. Interferograms are then inverted to solve for coseismic slip on the fault at depth. The radar data show that the rupture connected the Heituo fault, where the earthquake initiated, to the main Kunlun fault, cutting across a pull-apart trough in between the two strike-slip faults. The fault model includes two vertical sections extending to a depth of 20 km and discretized into 5 km × 5 km patches. Using a nonnegative least squares method that includes an appropriate degree of smoothing, we solve for the left-lateral slip on each fault patch. Our solution shows that the largest slip occurred at depths between 0 and 5 km, reaching ≃8 m in two areas, 200 and 250 km east of the earthquake epicenter. Significant slip took place below 10 km at both ends of the rupture. Slip appears to have been highly variable along the fault, defining six sections of major moment release. These sections correspond to six subsegments of the Kunlun fault system, defined from the surface morphology of the fault. This suggests that fault geometry exerted a predominant influence on controlling the rupture propagation.

The role of the East Asian active margin in widespread extensional and strike-slip deformation in East Asia

Abstract: East Asia is a region of widespread deformation, dominated by normal and strike-slip faults. Deformation has been interpreted to result from extrusion tectonics related to the India–Eurasia collision, which started in the Early Eocene. In East and SE China, however, deformation started earlier than the collision (latest Cretaceous to Palaeocene), suggesting that extrusion tectonics is not the (only) driving mechanism for East Asia deformation. It is suggested that the East Asian active margin has influenced deformation in East Asia significantly. Along the margin, Cenozoic back-arc extension took place behind several adjoining arcs, implying eastward rollback of the subducting slab and collapse of the overriding plate towards the retreating hinge-line. We show that extension took place along a c . 7400 km long stretch of the East Asian margin during most of the Cenozoic. Physical models are presented simulating overriding plate collapse and back-arc extension. The models reproduce important aspects of the strain field in East Asia. For geometrical and rheological conditions scaled to represent East Asia, modelling shows that the active margin can be held responsible for deformation in East Asia as far west as the Baikal rift zone, located c . 3300 km from the margin.

Tracing tropical and intermediate waters from the South China Sea to the Okinawa Trough and beyond

Abstract: [1] Intermediate waters with a salinity minimum from 350 to 1350 m depths have been reported to flow out of the South China Sea (SCS) through the Luzon Strait. This eastward flowing SCS Intermediate Water (SCSIW) is blocked by the northward flowing Black Stream (Kuroshio) southeast of Taiwan and is forced to turn to the north. The SCSIW subsequently enters and occupies the western half of the Okinawa Trough. Because of strong upwelling in the SCS basin, the SCSIW contains more nutrients than does the Kuroshio Intermediate Water in the Philippine Sea. One of the major purposes of this note is to reconfirm that the SCSIW actually does upwell onto the East China Sea (ECS) shelf and to show that the South China Sea Tropical Water (SCSTW), with a salinity maximum of 50–150 m in depth, follows the same pathway as the SCSIW and similarly occupies the western half of the Okinawa Trough. Part of these relatively nutrient-rich subsurface waters upwell, thereby supplying nutrients to the ECS shelves. The remaining SCSIW and SCSTW flow along with the Kuroshio and can be traced as far east as 140°E, south of Japan. This is just around the region where the Oyashio joins the Kuroshio to form the North Pacific Intermediate Water.

Evaluation of long-term tropospheric NO2 data obtained by GOME over East Asia in 1996-2002

Abstract: Long-term tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2) column data obtained by the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) (G-NO2) are evaluated to confirm the trends found in tropospheric NO2 abundances over East Asia between 1996 and 2002. For three locations in Central and East Asia, the G-NO2 values are compared with tropospheric columns estimated from coincident observations of total NO2 by ground-based UV/visible spectrometers and stratospheric NO2 by satellite solar occultation sensors (E-NO2). The comparisons show a slight linear drift in G-NO2 data from 1996 to 2002. However, it is much smaller than the standard deviation of the differences between G-NO2 and E-NO2 and much smaller than the increasing trends in NO2 seen by GOME over the industrial areas of China, demonstrating the validity of the trends estimated using the GOME data.

East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History

Abstract: Designed for the East Asian history course, this text features the latest scholarship on the region and offers a range of cultural, political, economic and intellectual history. Coverage is balanced among East Asian regions, with approximately 20 per cent of the text focused on Korea, an area that has become increasingly important in East Asian courses and in world politics. Special attention is devoted to coverage of gender and material culture - themes that are reinforced through the text's pedagogical features. Colour inserts illustrate the rich artistic heritage of East Asia and bolster the coverage of material culture.

Locating Southeast Asia : geographies of knowledge and politics of space

Abstract: Southeast Asia has never formed a unified political realm nor has it ever developed a cultural or civilizational unity. The present volume brings together observations about "Southeast Asia" drawn from a number of regional and disciplinary perspectives. The authors look at the region from the standpoint of Thailand and the Philippines, Singapore and Hong Kong, Japan and the Asian mainland, the South China Sea and the seacoasts of the region. They also consider the significance of borders and of a monetary network, of transnational flows of people, goods and information, and of knowledge in shaping Southeast Asia both for its residents and in the eyes of a wider world.

The Modern Middle East: A History

Abstract: (2005). The Modern Middle East: A History. History: Reviews of New Books: Vol. 33, No. 3, pp. 117-117.

Distribution of the East China Sea continental shelf basins and depths of magnetic sources

Abstract: The acoustic basement map of the East China Sea, established by the Shanghai Offshore Petroleum Bureau with all available industry seismic data, shows the existence of a 30-km-wide, 10-km-deep basin, that we named the Ho Basin. The Ho Basin belongs to a series of elongated deep basins extending over 600 km east of the Taiwan-Sinzi Ridge and flanked to the East by a ridge named the Longwan Ridge in its northern part. This new system of basin and ridge was probably formed during middle Miocene, sometimes in between rifting episodes occurring in the Taipei Basin and Okinawa Trough. It complements the already defined system of five belts of backarc basins and associated arc volcanic ridges in the East China Sea, which are progressively younger from the Mainland China shoreline (late Cretaceous/early Tertiary) to the Okinawa Trough (Present). In order to determine the crustal thickness beneath the East China Sea continental shelf, we used a power spectrum method to calculate the depth of the top (Zt) and the centroid (Zo) of the magnetic basement by fitting a straight line through the high- and low-wave number portions of the power spectrum, respectively. Then, the depth of the base (Zb) is estimated from Zt and Zo. After optimizing the size of the data squares, we demonstrate that, except for basins more than 10 km deep, Zt corresponds to the basement depths and Zb, the depth of the Curie point, to the Moho depth. As wide-angle reflection and refraction data are scarce in the East China Sea, this method provides a way to characterize the crustal thickness of the East China Sea and to compute the theoretical heat flow values.

Introduction: East Asia and the Trials of Neo-liberalism

Abstract: In this collection we seek to understand further the outcomes of the Asian Economic Crisis that began in 1997 and the extent to which it opened the door for neo-liberal policy agendas to transform the economic and political regimes of East and Southeast Asia. At another level, we will be exploring ways in which the extraordinary events of the Asian economic crisis have provided a window into larger questions about economic and political change and the influence of global markets upon such processes. It is clear that the region has seen a dramatic restructuring of state and economic power in recent decades. In many states, this restructuring was accelerated by the economic crisis. In the new circumstances, elements of domestic elites have been decimated, some are reinventing themselves, while important new elements are also being constituted. What is critical is how these shifts have reinforced, subverted or hijacked neo-liberal agendas for policy and institutional change. In other states, where crisis-driven neo-liberal agendas were not so intense (for example, China and Vietnam), we must explain the ways in which neo-liberalism has still had considerable impacts and market reforms are pursued. In each of the cases examined in this collection, it is clear that the initial hopes of neo-liberal reformers have been frustrated or at least substantially revised. Many neo-liberals had hoped that the Asian crisis would be a precursor for a vast convergence towards liberal market economics. In each of the countries examined, it is evident that neither the economic crisis itself, direct intervention by the IMF (in Thailand, Indonesia and South Korea) nor

East Asia Modern: Shaping the Contemporary City

Abstract: East Asia today is a hotbed of urban expansion. Cities such as Singapore, Taipei, Seoul, Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai are expanding at a prodigious rate, and this ongoing process of expansion and modernization is bringing rapid and widespread change to this part of the globe. Peter G. Rowe's "East Asia Modern" is a timely comparative study of urban expansion in the region, examining the processes by which new city building has taken place in recent years. The author, well known in the field of East Asian architecture and urbanism, focuses on how the modernizing process might most usefully be understood, especially with regard to building processes and projects; and how that understanding differs from other modernizing circumstances. He explains what modernization has meant for the general cultural diffusion of largely Western, ideas, how East Asian urban regions have developed their own distinct kind of modernity, and also what lessons can be learned from the contemporary East Asian experience. The book also provides a historical assessment of the region, showing how cities have developed over the last century and setting into context their individual paths towards modernization. "East Asia Modern" refutes many of the common misconceptions about life in modern East Asia, and provides a readable, critical assessment of the cities of the region, while also pointing to possible ways forward for the future.

Extreme monsoons over East Asia: Possible role of Indian Ocean Zonal Mode

Abstract: The influence of the Indian Ocean Zonal Mode on the extreme summer monsoon rainfall over East Asia (China, Korea, Japan) has been investigated applying simple statistical techniques of correlation and composite analysis. While the observed rainfall data are used as a measure of rainfall activity, the NCEP-NCAR Reanalysis data are used to examine the circulation features associated with the extreme monsoon phases and the dynamics of the zonal mode – monsoon variability connections. The data used covers the period 1960 to 2000.

Global surface temperature signals in pine ring-width chronologies from southern monsoon Asia

Abstract: [1] We analyze Pinus ring width chronologies from three locations across monsoon Asia (Bhutan, India, and Thailand) where climate is dominated by the southwest monsoon in the boreal summer. We compare these records to global surface temperatures for the past 150 years, shifting the correlations through three seasonal averages: two seasons preceding the monsoon (Dec–Feb and Mar–May), and the monsoon season itself (Jun–Sep). Clear patterns emerge for each of the chronologies that highlight links to areas of known influence on the Asian monsoon: the Indian Ocean, the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean, and the high-latitude Asian landmass. The Thai and Indian chronologies are from the same species (P. merkusii), and show a strong correlation with tropical Indian and Pacific Ocean bands. The Bhutan chronology (P. Wallichiana) is most strongly linked to climate over the north Pacific and Asian landmass. All of these correlations are strongest in seasons preceding the summer monsoon.

Effects of bulk ice microphysics on the simulated monsoonal precipitation over east Asia

Abstract: [1] This study examines the effects of bulk ice microphysical processes on the simulation of monsoonal precipitation in summer over east Asia, centered over Korea. The mixed phase microphysics scheme of the WRF-Single-Moment-MicroPhysics class 5 (WSM5) is implemented into the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University/National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesoscale Model (MM5). The performance of the WSM5 scheme is compared to that of Reisner's mixed phase scheme, that is, the MM5-Single-moment-Microphysics class 5 (MSM5). Together with looking at the impact of ice microphysics, the importance of the sedimentation of falling ice crystals on simulated rainfall events is investigated. The same sensitivity experiments are extended to a 2-month-long simulation of the east Asian summer monsoon. It was found that the new microphysics in the WSM5 scheme produces a more realistic vertical distribution of condensates. For a locally developed heavy rainfall event over Korea, the impact of revised ice microphysics is significant. The WSM5 scheme simulates more (less) precipitation in the south (north), compared with that of the MSM5 scheme, by stabilizing the air columns in the rainfall area, leading to a better agreement with the observed precipitation. By contrast, ice sedimentation becomes more important for those cases of heavy rainfall, associated with a mobile surface cyclone system, accomplished by suppressing large-scale bias through a realistic ice cloud/radiation feedback. The sedimentation of cloud ice is found to be crucial to the successful simulation of monsoonal precipitation and large-scale features within the east Asian summer monsoon.

A check-list of the mosses of Kamchatka Peninsula (Far East)

Abstract: Results of study of moss flora of Kamchatka Peninsula (Russian Far East) is presented. The list includes 439 species and 12 varieties of mosses. Annotations include localities and reference for each species. The history of bryological exploration and bibliography on bryophyte studies of Kamchatka Peninsula is given.

Temperature Profiles Within and Above an Urban Canopy

Abstract: The seasonal trend of vertical temperature profiles within and above an urban canopy has been investigated. We measured air temperatures and wind velocities along a 29-m tower in a residential area of Tokyo, Japan continually for 14 months. The height of the daily maximum temperature ZTmax varied with the season; ZTmax was at the roof level in winter but near the ground in summer. The seasonal change of ZTmax is likely due to the change of height at which solar energy is absorbed. At the time of the maximum temperature, the atmosphere above the canopy is always unstable whereas the air within the canopy is unstable in summer but stable in winter.

Taiwan and the New Regional Political Economy of East Asia

Abstract: Regional economic relations in East Asia have experienced a period of profound change since the 1997/98 financial crisis. Two developments are particularly notable. The first relates to the ASEAN Plus Three (APT) framework, under which an increasingly coalescent regional economic grouping has emerged in East Asia. Thus far, APT member states (Japan, China, South Korea and the ASEAN group) have devoted much energy to creating new mechanisms of regional financial governance, such as the Chiang Mai Initiative and Asian Bond Market Initiative. The second development concerns the expansion of bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) projects in East Asia and the Asia-Pacific. Many see this as a precursor to forging wider sub-regional or regional trade agreements. Both developments mark a potentially significant shift from regionalization to regionalism in East Asia, and thus “high politics” becomes de facto more important given regionalism is largely founded on inter-(nation-)state agreements. Beijing's continued ardent contestation of Taiwan's nation-statehood has hence limited Taiwan's ability to engage as it would like in East Asia's new regional political economy. This article considers the nature of regional political economy and applies it to the recent East Asian experience, which in turn provides an analytical framework for examining the significance of the APT framework and new FTA trend, and Taiwan's position in relation to them. Special attention is paid to Taiwan's prospects in East Asia's new regional political economy.