Oceanology of China Seas, 1994 Volume 1-2

ZENG Cheng-kui (C. K. TSENG) Research Professor; Director Emeritus illStitllte of Oceanology, Academia Sillica Qillgdao 26607 J, China Ten years ago I was invited by Professor John Steele, Director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute of the U. S. A. to write a preface for the special issue on "Oceanography in China" for the Oceanus. I was then the Director of the Institute of Oceanology, Academia Sinica. I gladly appreciated the honor, and in the preface I briefly enumerated the history of oceanology, or oceanography according to the American custom, in China dividing it into four stages: the founding stage 1950-1956, the growing stage 1956-1964, the partial expanding stage 1965-1978, and the elevation stage since 1978 (Tseng, 1983/84). The founding stage of Chinese oceanofogy should actually start in 1931 with the establishment of the short-life Chinese Marine Biological Association in old China. The following twenty years in Chinese history between 1931 and 1959 comprised a very memorable period in China, badly marked by the World War II, and the 1946-1950 civil war. Some scattered research in marine biology was conducted in phycology, invertebrate zoology and ichthyology, mostly in taxonomy. A little work was devoted to delta geology and tidal and seawater temperature records. Two expeditions were organized and sent by the National Central Academy of Sciences to the Bohai Sea in 1935 and by the Beijing Academy of Sciences to the Jiaozhou Bay in 1936, both engaged principally in marine biological research.

IV. Marine Geology.- The Geology and Petroleum Resources of Northern China Seas.- Basin Evolution and Hydrocarbon Potential of the Northern South China Sea.- Geological Structure and Geophysical Characteristics of Nansha Block in Southern South China Sea.- Neogene Biostratigraphy of Zhujiangkou Basin, South China Sea: A Quantitative Study.- Sedimentation in Northern China Seas.- Basic Characteristics of Modern Sedimentation in South China Sea.- Paleoceanography in China: Progress and Problems.- V. Coastal Research.- Relative Sea Level Changes in China over the Last Eighty Years.- Tidal Flats in China.- Stratigraphic Models of Barrier-Lagoon Systems in the Coastal Zones of China.- Dynamic Geomorphic Systems of South China Coast.- Modern Coral Reefs in South China Sea.- Distribution and Formation of Littoral Placer Deposits in China.- Improvement of Natural Environments of Coastal Zone in South China.- VI. Marine Physics and Technology.- Some Recent Advances in Underwater Acoustics in China.- Technology for Oceanographic Research and Investigation in China.- The Optical Information Transmission in the Ocean.- An Inversion Method for Obtaining Bottom Reflection Loss.- Multiplex Function Manganese Nodule Sounding System.- Acoustic Discrimination of Seafloor Properties.- Ocean Wave Directional Spectra by Optical Methods.- Statistical Characteristics of Sound Transmission and Signal Detection in Shallow Sea.