MeixunZhao
Distinguished Professor
Telephone: +86-532-66782103
E-mail: maxzhao@ouc.edu.cn;maxzhao04@yahoo.com
EducationalBackground
1991 Ph.D.Oceanography (Organic Geochemistry), Scripps Institution of Oceanography,University of California, San Diego
1982 B.S.Chemistry, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, P. R. China
CareerHistory
2010-present Distinguished Professor and Director, Key Laboratory of MarineChemistry Theory and Technology (OUC) of the Ministry of Education，Ocean University of China, Qingdao,China
2005-2009 DistinguishedProfessor, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering，Ocean University of China, Qingdao,China
2005-2008 DistinguishedProfessor, School of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Tongji University, Shanghai,China
2002-05 AssociateProfessor, Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College
1996-02 AssistantProfessor, Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College
1994-96 ResearchEnvironmental Chemist, Environmental Sciences Program, University ofMassachusetts-Boston
1991-94 PostdoctoralResearch Associate, Organic Geochemistry Unit, School of Chemistry andBiogeochemistry Centre, University of Bristol, UK
1985-90 ResearchAssistant, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, SanDiego
1986 TeachingAssistant, Geochemistry, University of California, San Diego
1982-84 ResearchAssistant, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, P. R. China
ResearchInterests
Prof. Zhao’s research mainly usesbiomarkers and their compound-specific isotope ratios to address problems inocean and earth sciences. Recent research topics include (i) Late Quaternarymarine productivity and phytoplankton community structure changes andimplications for the carbon cycle, (ii) Application of molecular stratigraphyin paleoceanography and paleoclimatology reconstruction, (iii) Climate andanthropogenic influences on late Holocene environmental and ecological changesof marginal seas, (iv) Biogeochemical cycles and deep sea ecologicalimplications at cold seeps.
RepresentativePublications and Achievements
Publications:
LiDawei , Meixun Zhao, Jun Tian, Li Li.2013: Comparison and implications of TEX86 and 
temperaturerecords over the last 356 kyr of ODP Site 1147 from the northern South ChinaSea, Palaeogeography PalaeoclimatologyPalaeoecology, 376, 213-223，DOI:10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.02.031.
Tao, Shuqin, LeiXing , Xiaofan Luo , Hao Wei , Yanguang Liu , Meixun Zhao. 2012: Alkenone distributions in surface sediments ofthe Yellow Sea and implications for the thermometer, Geo-Marine Letters,32, 61-71, DOI 10.1007/s00367-011-0251-1.
Xing,Lei, Zhang Rongping, Liu Yanguang, Zhao Xiaochen, Liu Sumei, Shi xuefa, Zhao Meixun. 2011: Biomarker records ofphytoplankton productivity and community structure changes in the Japan Seaover the last 166 kyr. Quaternary ScienceReviews,30, 2666-2675.
Zhao, M., Huang, C.Y.,Wang, C.C., Wei, G., 2006: A millennial-scale sea-surfacetemperature record from the South China Sea (8oN) over the last 150kyr: Monsoon and sea-level influence, PalaeogeographyPalaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 236, 39-55.
ZhangZ., Zhao. M., Lu, M., Faiia, A.,Lower temperature as the main cause of C4 plant declines during the glacialperiods on the Chinese Loess Plateau, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 214,467-481, 2003. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0012-821X(03)00387-X
Zhao, M., Dupont, L.,Eglinton, G., Teece, M., n-Alkane and pollen reconstruction of terrestrialclimate and vegetation for N.W. Africa over the last 160 kyr., OrganicGeochemistry, 34, 131–143, 2003. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0146-6380(02)00142-0
Harris,P.G., Zhao, M., Rosell-Mele, A.,Tiedemann, R., Sarnthein, M., Maxwell, J.R., 1996: Chlorin accumulation rate as a proxy forQuaternary marine primary productivity, Nature,383, 63-65.
Zhao, M., Beveridge,N.A.S., Shackleton, N.J., Sarnthein, M., Eglinton, G., 1995: Molecularstratigraphy of cores off Northwest Africa: Sea surface temperature historyover the last 80 ka. Paleoceanography,10, 661-675.
Zhao, M., Bada, J.L., 1995:Determination of a-dialkyl amino acids and their enantiomers in geological samples byHPLC after derivatization with a chiral adduct of 0-phthaldialehyde. Journal of Chromatography A, 690, 55-63.
Zhao, M., Bada, J.L., 1989:Extraterrestrial amino acids in Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary sediments atStevns Klint, Denmark. Nature, 339,463-465.
Achievements:
Meixun Zhao’sresearch focuses on marine organic geochemistry, including the evolution andprocesses of marine ecological system, marine carbon cycle, and stable isotopemarine chemistry. He is leading several national projects, i.e. the Ministry ofScience and Technology 973 program “Evolutionprocesses, mechanisms and future trends of China’s Shelf Sea environments andecosystems ”, NSF-China Group of Excellence program “MarineOrganic Geochemistry ”, the Program of Introducing Overseas Talents to ChineseUniversities (“111” Program) “Marine Chemistry”. He authored and co-authored morethan 80 publications including 3 Nature papers, which were cited for more than1300 times.
For the organiccarbon cycle of China marginal seas, Prof. Meixun Zhao’s researchestablished the spatial-temporaldistribution and control mechanism of the content and variation of ratio ofbiomarkers in China marginal seawater and surface sediments, developed andvalidated several proxies for ecological environment and organic matter sources’reconstruction; calibrated indexes like BIT, compound-specific C13 and C14 fordistinguishing the organic matter sources in China marginal seas; providedpreliminary evidence for the effectiveness of the multi-parameters biomarkerson revealing climate change and human activity’s influence on marineenvironment, which indicated that the combination of human activity and climatechange resulted in the rise of the burial organic matter and percentage of marine-originatedorganic matter, as well as the enhanced effectiveness of the carbon sink inEast China Sea and Yellow Sea in the past half century.
