IMHO The China research at Benham Rise, which includes as announced a temperature study, has a geostrategic objective: Termocline study for submarine warfare.
"The UP MSI revealed the scope of the newsmaking study as it detailed that it “aims to measure temperature, salinity”
Golez: This temperature study, charting thermoclines, will also be useful for submarine warfare. IMHO this is the geostrategic objective.
We learn about thermoclines in Oceanography 101 at Annapolis. Here's a primer on thermocline.
"Thermocline
"People who know about thermoclines include submariners, serious fishermen* and readers of contemporary naval combat novels. I fall into the latter category.
"I'm fascinated... about submarines and the deadly, 3-dimensional game of hide n seek they play. Thermoclines play a large role in those games because they mess up the sonar used to locate and track other vessels.
"The wavy dotted line is the thermocline.
"Radiated noise bounces when it hits the thermocline, and can only pass through it if at or near a 90 degree angle. So, the destroyer can't get a fix on the sub unless the two are directly above/below each other."
I quote from news:
“Measuring the currents and temperature structure “over a long period of time” will help scientists understand the Kuroshio’s role on climate and assist them in developing predictive models, the statement said.
“The statement said the IOCAS first engaged in talks with the UP MSI to discuss the current endeavor in 2016.
“This collaboration also supports our initiative to develop a national oceanographic program that can help address societal demands in understanding the changing climate and ocean processes in partnership with both local and foreign collaborators,” the UP institute said.
Research details
“The UP MSI revealed the scope of the newsmaking study as it detailed that it “aims to measure temperature, salinity and current distributions in several locations along a line (transect) at 18°N and 8°N” at the country’s northeastern seaboard, where Benham Rise is located.”
UPMSI SAYS
Fil-Chi research in Benham Rise to study climate-driving ocean currents
The Chinese institute that was officially allowed to explore Benham Rise will measure ocean currents that scientists believe drive regional climate pattern, said the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute (UP MSI), its local partner for the research cruise.
Oceanographers from the Institute of Oceanology of Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS), aboard the research vessel Ke Xue and joined by a team from the UP MSI, are particularly interested in ocean current properties to further understand the climate-driving Kuroshio, said the UP MSI in a statement Thursday night.
The statement also said that studying major ocean current system dynamics is "complex and requires extensive resources," hence the "importance" of international collaboration.
The Kuroshio current is a northward moving body of water formed by a westward counterpart that splits off the Philippine coast, said the UP MSI.
“The Kuroshio is responsible for the transport of heat to the rest of the North Pacific and therefore is an important driver of the regional climate and even the El Nino and La Nina cycles,” the statement said.
UPMSI Statement by gmanews on Scribd
Ke Xue, the vessel, is estimated to operate within the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) for “about three to six days,” said the statement.
It appears the Kuroshio and Mindanao Currents have long been a topic of interest for the UP MSI, as it said it collaborated with US scientists on two research cruises from 2011 to 2014, where they found the need for longer-duration measurements.
“Studies with long-term measurements can only be achieved if resources from different countries are combined and shared,” the statement said.
Measuring the currents and temperature structure “over a long period of time” will help scientists understand the Kuroshio’s role on climate and assist them in developing predictive models, the statement said.
The statement said the IOCAS first engaged in talks with the UP MSI to discuss the current endeavor in 2016.
“This collaboration also supports our initiative to develop a national oceanographic program that can help address societal demands in understanding the changing climate and ocean processes in partnership with both local and foreign collaborators,” the UP institute said.
Research details
The UP MSI revealed the scope of the newsmaking study as it detailed that it “aims to measure temperature, salinity and current distributions in several locations along a line (transect) at 18°N and 8°N” at the country’s northeastern seaboard, where Benham Rise is located.
The research cruise also aims to to deploy instruments at the western edge of the said transects that will measure ocean currents and their various properties “continuously for an extended period of time (e.g. at least a year).”
But time constraints have prompted the cancellation of transect and moorings at 8°N transect, the statement said.
The UP MSI previously collaborated with oceanographers from countries including the United States, South Korea, Japan, China, and Taiwan along the Pacific seaboard to advance its study of major ocean current systems “as early as the 1980s.”
Enjoying United Nations-awarded sovereign rights over the area, the Philippines gave the IOCAS a permit to survey the country’s eastern seaboard, which includes the potentially resource-rich Benham Rise (Philippine Rise).
This move raised questions of what the Philippines is to gain from the endeavor, especially as the study will be led by a group from territorial rival China.
To justify the act, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said such a “capital-intensive” study is too costly for a Filipino-only team.
But Filipino scientists spoke up on social media to refute his remark as they revealed previous marine science research endeavors by Philippine teams.
Maritime law expert Jay Batongbacal said Roque’s comment was “completely wrong, based on ignorance and a serious disservice to Filipino scientists in particular and the Filipino people in general.”
But Roque, a law professor, said the issue may have been a matter of “miscommunication.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs has been urged to disclose the details of the agreement. —LBG, GMA News
Thermocline
People who know about thermoclines include submariners, serious fishermen* and readers of contemporary naval combat novels. I fall into the latter category.
I'm fascinated by novels and movies about submarines and the deadly, 3-dimensional game of hide n seek they play. Thermoclines play a large role in those games because they mess up the sonar used to locate and track other vessels.
The wavy dotted line is the thermocline.
Radiated noise bounces when it hits the thermocline, and can only pass throughit if at or near a 90 degree angle. So, the destroyer can't get a fix on the sub unless the two are directly above/below each other.
Thermocline definition: a thin but distinct layer in a large body of fluid (e.g. water, such as an ocean or lake, or air, such as an atmosphere) in which temperature changes more rapidly with depth than it does in the layers above or below. At sea, the thermocline is typically about 300 feet below the surface, warmer water above, cooler water below. It's much higher in freshwater lakes that are 30+ feet deep.
Serious fishermen know about them because fish like to hang out in waters of a certain temperature, and those temps are typically above the thermocline. They - the fishermen, not the fish - use depth finders to locate the transition layer.
*For several years I was a not-so-serious fisherman. Perfect weather, chores all done, hook up the boat, tow it down to the marina, launch, motor out to where the fish are rumored to be, drop anchor, hook some bizarre-looking piece of hardware onto my line, open a beer, fire up a cigar, sit back and enjoy life. Then, 2-3 hours later, head back to the barn, stop at Safeway and buy fish - if I really wanted fish for dinner.
Had I known about thermoclines, I may have actually caught a few fish. Or not. In retrospect, I was more of a boater than a fisher, just enjoyed being out on the water.
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