ChinaSea

Yellow Sea, East China Sea, South China Sea

For this particular purpose we put together the following waters of the southwestern Pacific Ocean referring to as the China Sea: the extremely flat and shallow Yellow Sea to the North, the continental marginal East China Sea to the east, and the deep South China Sea in the south.

The Yellow Sea

The Yellow Sea is a semi-enclosed southwestern North Pacific embayment located between China and Korea with the Gulf of Liaodong to the northeast and the West Korea Bay to the north. Several islands lie along the Korean coast, while extended sand shoals are sited along the Chinese coastline. The sea is former land submerged during post glacial sea level rise roughly 10,000 years ago.

The Yellow Sea got its name from the yellowish discoloration caused by the vast amount of particulate material discharged by the Huang He River. Due to the discharge of nutrient-rich river waters, in former times the Yellow Sea was very rich in bottom fish species and shrimps. However, today farmers protect their fields more intensively against erosion causing a lack of nutrients in the Yellow Sea and dramatic decreases in shrimp catches.

The hydrographic properties, circulation patterns and flow strengths of the Yellow Sea are driven by the proximity to the Kuroshio Current and by the seasonal variation of the Monsoon winds. Major currents are a northwest directed branch of the Kuroshio called the Yellow Sea Current, the southward flowing China Coastal Current, and an unnamed current flowing southward along the west coast of Korea that carries low salinity water from the Bohai Gulf.

The climate of the Yellow Sea region shows extreme variations. Very cold, dry winters alternate with wet and warm summers. This dramatic seasonal change is caused by winter and summer Monsoon conditions. Typhoons – like Hurricanes in the equatorial Atlantic – prevail during summer months and cause severe damages along the coastlines. Extreme precipitation events may cause catastrophic river floods.

During winter, parts of the inner Yellow Sea freeze over effected by the severe cold of the Asian continent. During spring break-up, river ice drifts far out into the shallow Bohai waters.

Besides fishery and coastal farming, regional maritime trade and traffic are the most dominant economic sources.

East China Sea

The East China Sea lies south of the Yellow Sea. From a broad and shallow shelf in the west the sea steeply slopes eastwards towards greater depths in the Okinawa Trough. The Nansei-Syoto Ridge separates the East China Sea from the Philippine Sea.

The Kuroshio Current dominates the flow conditions of the East China Sea. Oceanography, climate and ecology of the sea are comparable to that of the Yellow Sea and South China Sea regions.

South China Sea

The South China Sea is a regional sea in the southwestern Pacific Ocean including the Gulf of Thailand and the Gulf of Tonkin and is centered between Vietnam, Thailand, the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, the Philippines and Taiwan. The sea is connected to the Andaman Sea via the Strait of Malacca, to the Java Sea via the Karimata Strait, to the Philippine Sea via Luzon Strait and to the Sulu Sea via the Balabar Strait and the Mindoro Channel.

The southwestern part of the South China Sea is a shallow and flat shelf sea, while the much deeper eastern basin has a lively seafloor. The shelves along the Chinese and Vietnam coasts partly steeply break towards greater depths.

The area includes more than 200 small islands with the majority located in the Paracel and Spratly Island chains. Many of these islands are partially submerged islets, rocks, and reefs that are little more than shipping hazards and not suitable for habitation.

The northeast Monsoon between December and February and the southwest Monsoon between June and August change the surface water circulation pattern with predictable regularity and significantly influence the regional climate.

The South China Sea region is the World's second busiest international sea route. More than half of the World's supertanker traffic passes through the regional waters. In addition, the South China Sea region contains oil and gas resources, which are strategically located near large energy-consuming and fast developing countries. According to the huge oil and gas reserves the South China Sea is referred to as ”the second Persian Gulf”.

Most people of the area work in fishing, marine transportation, offshore exploration and mining of mineral and non-mineral resources as well as recreation and tourism. Fishery industry concentrates on coastal cultivation of oysters and shrimp as well as on deep sea fishing for tuna and other migratory species.

Besides intensive economic activities the South China Sea is also a unique ecosystem. Coral reefs host several thousand different species of organisms thus playing an important role for the biological diversity. The still occurring dugong is a sensitive indicator for environment health.

However, the region is becoming more and more a sink for regional environment pollution. Transit vessels are increasingly responsible for oil spills and waste dumping. More regional environment problems include over fishing and smoke haze from forest fires and factories.

A diminishing fish catch from year to year threatens the extensive fishing industry and many fishermen are forced to practice more aggressive or even illegal fishing techniques like blasting and cyanide poisoning or venture further out towards new fishing grounds.

Increasing sedimentation from land development and coastal erosion further degrades coral habitats, while coral reefs are ravaged and plundered to provide building materials and ornamental commodities.