Friday, December 24, 2021

Philippine Sea| Dec. 24, 2021

 The Philippine Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean east of the Philippine archipelago (hence the name), occupying an estimated surface area of 5 million square kilometers (2×106 sq mi).[1] The Philippine Sea Plate forms the floor of the sea.[2] Its western border is the first island chain to the west, comprising the Ryukyu Islands in the northwest and Taiwan in the west. Its southwestern border comprises the Philippine islands of LuzonCatanduanesSamarLeyte, and Mindanao. Its northern border comprises the Japanese islands of HonshuShikoku and Kyūshū. Its eastern border is the second island chain to the west, comprising the Bonin Islands and Iwo Jima in the northeast, the Mariana Islands (including GuamSaipan, and Tinian) in the due east, and HalmaheraPalauYap and Ulithi (of the Caroline Islands) in the southeast. Its southern border is Indonesia's Morotai Island.[3]


​The sea has a complex and diverse undersea relief.[4] The floor is formed into a structural basin by a series of geologic faults and fracture zones. Island arcs, which are actually extended ridges protruding above the ocean surface due to plate tectonic activity in the area, enclose the Philippine Sea to the north, east and south. The Philippine archipelago, Ryukyu Islands, and the Marianas are examples. Another prominent feature of the Philippine Sea is the presence of deep sea trenches, among them the Philippine Trench and the Mariana Trench, containing the deepest point on the planet.

US and Japanese forces sail in formation in the Philippine Sea during multinational military exercises in 2018. 

US and Japan draw up joint military plan in case of Taiwan emergency – report

US would set up bases from a Japanese island to Taiwan and deploy troops, with Japan providing logistical support, Kyodo reports

Date published on Dec. 24, 2021

Japanese and US armed forces have drawn up a draft plan for a joint operation for a possible Taiwan emergency, Japan’s Kyodo news agency has reported, amid increased tensions between the island and China.

​Under the plan, the US marine corps would set up temporary bases on the Nansei island chain stretching from Kyushu – one of the four main islands of Japan – to Taiwan at the initial stage of a Taiwan emergency and would deploy troops, Kyodo said on Thursday, citing unnamed Japanese government sources.


Japanese armed forces would provide logistical support in such areas as ammunition and fuel supplies, it said.

​Japan, a former colonial ruler of Taiwan, and the US would likely reach an agreement to start formulating an official plan at a “2+2” meeting of foreign and defence ministers early next year, the news agency said.

Japanese defence ministry officials were not immediately available for comment.

China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own “sacred” territory and in the past two years has stepped up military and diplomatic pressure to assert its sovereignty claims, fuelling anger in Taipei and deep concern in Washington.

Taiwan’s government says it wants peace, but will defend itself if needed.

In October, Japan’s government signalled a more assertive position on China’s aggressive posture towards self-ruled Taiwan, suggesting it would consider options and prepare for “various scenarios”, while reaffirming close US ties.

Earlier this month, former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe said Japan and the US could not stand by if China attacked Taiwan.

US officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, have long said that given the tens of thousands of troops the US has in Japan and its proximity to Taiwan, Japan would likely have to play an important role in any Taiwan emergency.

Japan is host to major US military bases, including on the southern island of Okinawa, a short flight from Taiwan, which would be crucial for any US support during a Chinese attack.

The US, like most countries in the world, recognises China over Taiwan, in line with Beijing’s “one China” policy. But Washington is the island’s biggest arms supplier and ally and is obliged by law to help it defend itself.

As we approach the end of the year in Taiwan, we have a small favour to ask. We’d like to thank you for putting your trust in our journalism this year - and invite you to join the million-plus people in 180 countries who have recently taken the step to support us financially, keeping us open to all, and fiercely independent.

In 2021, this support sustained investigative work into offshore wealth, spyware, sexual harassment, labour abuse, environmental plunder, crony coronavirus contracts, and Big Tech.

The new year, like all new years, will hopefully herald a fresh sense of cautious optimism, and there is certainly much for us to focus on in 2022 - a volley of elections, myriad economic challenges, the next round in the struggle against the pandemic and a World Cup.

With no shareholders or billionaire owner, we can set our own agenda and provide trustworthy journalism that’s free from commercial and political influence, offering a counterweight to the spread of misinformation. When it’s never mattered more, we can investigate and challenge without fear or favour.     more

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China will end US dominance – Putin
Beijing is on the cusp of overtaking America as the powerhouse of global trade, the Russian president has argued.

Dec. 24 - Within the next three decades, China will surpass the US in every aspect of its economy, Vladimir Putin said, predicting that America will lose its position of dominance in finance and trade.

​Speaking to journalists at his annual end-of-year press conference on Thursday, Putin pointed out that “today, China’s economy is already larger than America’s in terms of purchasing power parity.” According to him, “by 2035-2050, it will have surpassed it and China will become the leading economy in the world according to all metrics.”

However, the Russian president continued, the West is working to undermine the world’s most populous nation and strangle its growth. The US-led boycott of the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing purportedly over human rights abuses is an attempt to make sure China “cannot raise its head” above its competitors, he added.


Putin blasted the decision as “unacceptable and erroneous,” and an “attempt to restrain the development of the People’s Republic of China.” Washington announced the decision over concerns for the safety of tennis player Peng Shuai, who disappeared from public for several weeks after accusing former vice premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault. The Women’s Tennis Association has suspended all tournaments in the East Asian nation in response.

Earlier this month, Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks via video link amid escalating tensions between the two nations and the West. In the wake of the discussions, the Kremlin revealed that the pair had agreed to develop a shared financial system to reduce reliance on US-dominated platforms. The move appears to be a response to a series of warnings that Western nations could push to disconnect Russia from the Brussels-based SWIFT financial system as a form of sanction.

During the press conference on Thursday, Putin said China is his country’s number-one partner, adding that “we have very trusting relations and it helps us build good business ties as well.”
“We are cooperating in the field of security. The Chinese Army is equipped to a significant extent with the world’s most advanced weapons systems. We are even developing certain high-tech weapons together,” the Russian leader added.

Related Articles:
Kremlin reveals new independent Russian-Chinese financial systems

Saturday, December 18, 2021

Geology | Dec. 18, 2021

5 - White House News in Chinese (weebly.com)




Russia's military build-up: Tensions rising with Ukraine
00:00
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01:38
Russia threatens war unless US abandons eastern NATO allies

​Dec. 17 - Russian President Vladimir Putin will bear the blame for Russian soldiers “coming home in body bags” if he orders a new invasion of Ukraine, President Joe Biden’s administration said in response to the Kremlin’s latest high-stakes maneuver.

“The Russian people don’t need a war with Ukraine,” a senior administration official told reporters Friday. “They don’t need their sons coming home in body bags. They don’t need another foreign adventure. ... So we hope that President Putin will take this opportunity for diplomacy and will also listen to the needs of his own people.”


That stark warning followed the release of a “draft treaty” proposal from Moscow that Russian officials portray as a resolution to the standoff, which has intensified as Russian forces amass near Ukraine's borders. Yet the Russian document demands not only that NATO promise never to admit Ukraine to the alliance, but it also goes so far as to demand the removal of U.S. and Western European forces from Central and Eastern Europe — a rollback that would amount to a practical breakup of NATO.


“It’s not even valid to consider it,” a Baltic official told the Washington Examiner on condition of anonymity. “If a country wants to leave NATO, then, of course, it’s a sovereign decision by any democratic country. ... It’s not a decision that’s up to Russia”...     more

A Coming Test On Taiwan

​Instead of attacking Taiwan itself, China might target one of its remote outlying possessions.

Dec. 18 - Most discussions about a U.S. security commitment to Taiwan implicitly assume that a military move by the People’s Republic of China would take the form of an offensive against Taiwan itself. Very few experts raise the question of what the United States would do if Beijing launched a more limited action—one against Kinmen (Quemoy) and Matsu, small Taiwanese-controlled islands just a few miles off of China’s coast, or against other more distant islands that Taipei claims. Yet that is a much more likely scenario than a full-scale war to subjugate Taiwan. It would be a bold yet relatively low-risk way for Beijing to test the extent and reliability of Washington’s resolve to defend Taiwan and its interests...     more
Rep. Fallon: US Must Defend Taiwan Against Chinese Aggression

NTD spoke with Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas) about the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics, China’s aggression toward Taiwan, and the Chinese Communist Party stealing U.S. intellectual property.



​The Yangtze Plate, also called the South China Block or the South China Subplate, comprises the bulk of southern China. It is separated on the east from the Okinawa Plate by a rift that forms the Okinawa Trough which is a back-arc basin, on the south by the Sunda Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate, and on the north and west by the Eurasian Plate. The Longmenshan Fault on the latter border was the site of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake.[1]
The Yangtze Plate was formed by the disaggregation of the Rodinia Supercontinent 750 million years ago, in the Neoproterozoic era. South China rifted away from the Gondwana supercontinent in the Silurian. During the formation of the great supercontinent Pangaea, South China was a smaller, separate continent located off the east coast of the supercontinent and drifting northward. In the Triassic the Yangtze Plate collided with the North China Plate, thereby connecting with Pangaea, and formed the Sichuan basin. In the Cenozoic the Yangtze Plate was influenced by the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates creating the uplifting of the Longmen Mountains.[2] Its southward motion is accommodated along the Red River fault.


华南板块,也称扬子板块长江板块,是指从秦岭淮河到冲绳海槽这个巨大的稳定地区,是一块位于东亚的板块。在华南板块内部,又细分为扬子克拉通(即扬子陆块、华南地块)、华夏地块(学术界对是否存在华夏古陆有争议,因此有人称之为华南褶皱带),二者分界线为萍乡——绍兴断裂带、江南造山带
华南板块包括中國南部,東面與沖繩板塊沖繩海槽分隔,東北與阿穆尔板块東海黃海交接處相鄰,南面是巽他板塊菲律賓板塊,北面和西面有歐亞大陸板塊汶川大地震位於與後者邊界的龍門山斷層[1]
华南板块形成于罗迪尼亚超大陆750 Ma新元古代的解体。在志留纪,华南板块沿断层从冈瓦纳大陆上滑走。在盘古大陆形成过程中,华南板块是盘古大陆东边一个小而独立的大陆,并向北运动。在三叠纪,华南板块与华北板块相撞,与盘古大陆相连,并形成四川盆地。在新生代,华南板块受到印度板块欧亚板块相撞的影响,发生了四川龙门山的抬升。[2]:1–11它南部的运动沿红河断层相适应。
中英文名称的翻译

Friday, December 10, 2021

Geology | Dec. 11, 2021

 Convergent boundary

​Geology of Taiwan

The island of Taiwan is active geologically, formed on a complex convergent boundary between the Yangtze Subplate of the Eurasian Plate to the west and north, the Okinawa Plate on the north-east, the Philippine Plate on the east and south, and the Sunda Plate to the southwest. Subduction changes direction at Taiwan. The upper part of the crust on the island is primarily made up of a series of terranes, mostly old island arcs which have been forced together by the collision of the forerunners of the Eurasian Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate, which is moving to the northwest. These have been further uplifted as a result of the detachment of a portion of the Eurasian Plate as it was subducted beneath remnants of the Philippine Sea Plate, a process which left the crust under Taiwan more buoyant.[1]

South of Taiwan, the Philippine Sea Plate is subducting under the Sunda Plate, forming the Luzon Volcanic Arc (including Green Island and Orchid Island). The east and south of the island are a complex system of belts formed by, and part of the zone of, active collision between the North Luzon Trough portion of the Luzon Volcanic Arc and the Eurasian Plate, where accreted portions of the Luzon Arc and Luzon forearc form the eastern Coastal Range and parallel inland Taitung Longitudinal Valley of Taiwan respectively.[2]
To the northeast, the Philippine Sea Plate is subducting under the Okinawa Plate, forming the Ryukyu Volcanic Arc.

​台灣地質
臺灣位於菲律賓海板塊歐亞板塊的聚合邊界,為一個造山作用活躍的活動構造區,根據GPS觀測資料,菲律賓海板塊以每年8.2公分的移動速度向西北移動[1]。菲律賓海板塊的隱沒方向在臺灣改變,在臺灣南方,歐亞板塊朝東隱沒到菲律賓海板塊之下,形成馬尼拉海溝及其東側的呂宋火山島弧,到了臺灣北方,菲律賓海板塊則是朝北隱沒到歐亞板塊之下,造成琉球海溝及其北側的琉球火山島弧沖繩海槽[2]

convergent boundary (also known as a destructive boundary) is an area on Earth where two or more lithospheric plates collide. One plate eventually slides beneath the other, a process known as subduction. The subduction zone can be defined by a plane where many earthquakes occur, called the Wadati–Benioff zone.[1] These collisions happen on scales of millions to tens of millions of years and can lead to volcanism, earthquakes, orogenesis, destruction of lithosphere, and deformation. Convergent boundaries occur between oceanic-oceanic lithosphere, oceanic-continental lithosphere, and continental-continental lithosphere. The geologic features related to convergent boundaries vary depending on crust types.
Plate tectonics is driven by convection cells in the mantle. Convection cells are the result of heat generated by radioactive decay of elements in the mantle escaping to the surface and the return of cool materials from the surface to the mantle.[2] These convection cells bring hot mantle material to the surface along spreading centers creating new crust. As this new crust is pushed away from the spreading center by the formation of newer crust, it cools, thins, and becomes denser. Subduction begins when this dense crust converges with less dense crust. The force of gravity helps drive the subducting slab into the mantle.[3] As the relatively cool subducting slab sinks deeper into the mantle, it is heated, causing hydrous minerals to break down. This releases water into the hotter asthenosphere, which leads to partial melting of asthenosphere and volcanism. Both dehydration and partial melting occurs along the 1,000 °C (1,830 °F) isotherm, generally at depths of 65 to 130 km (40 to 81 mi).[4][5]

Some lithospheric plates consist of both continental and oceanic lithosphere. In some instances, initial convergence with another plate will destroy oceanic lithosphere, leading to convergence of two continental plates. Neither continental plate will subduct. It is likely that the plate may break along the boundary of continental and oceanic crust. Seismic tomography reveals pieces of lithosphere that have broken off during convergence.[citation needed]

聚合性板塊邊緣Convergent plate boundary / Destructive plate boundary,又譯大陸匯聚帶聚合性板塊邊界破壞性板塊邊界),顧名思義,是指邊界兩旁板塊相移近之處。其動力源自軟流圈中下沈的熔岩對流,乃三種主要板塊邊界之一。由於板塊相撞時產生巨大擠壓力和摩擦力,並形成俯衝帶,產生大量熔岩,故容易觸發地震火山爆發海嘯自然災害。與此同時,亦造出褶曲山脈海溝火山火山島弧等自然地貌。


Picture

Pingxi District (Chinese平溪區pinyinPíngxī QūWade–GilesP'ing2-hsi1 Ch'ü1Pe̍h-ōe-jīPêng-khoe-khu, Pêng-khe-khu; also spelled Pinghsi), is a rural district in New TaipeiTaiwan. The source of the Keelung River is in Jingtong, which is inside Pingxi District. It was an important coal mining town in the early 20th century. Its population of 4,872 as of January 2016 is the smallest among the districts of New Taipei City.   more info.


平溪區 - 维基百科,自由的百科全书 (wikipedia.org)臺灣話Pîng-khoe-khu)位於中華民國新北市東部,東北鄰瑞芳區、東南鄰雙溪區、南鄰坪林區、西南鄰石碇區、西北鄰汐止區基隆市暖暖區。平溪區境內多山,屬於伏獅山區,具有煤炭礦層。由於礦產業沒落導致人口嚴重流失,目前人口約於四千多人,為新北市人口最少的行政區,與人口最多的板橋區差距125倍。也是全國老年人口最高的一個行政區,占全區人口30%以上。每年元宵節放天燈是平溪最為人所熟知的重要節慶[1]。    有關更多

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Mischief Reef |Mar. 25

  WH keeping public in dark on what Biden demanded of China’s Xi over arming Putin​ Mar. 18 - The White House was tight-lipped Friday about ...