The Penghu Channel (Chinese: 澎湖水道; pinyin: Pēnghú Hángdào) or Pescadores Channel is the body of water that separates the Penghu islands from Taiwan island and links the Taiwan Strait to the northeastern South China Sea. The channel has been considered narrow and potentially difficult to navigate in monsoon season.[1][2] The channel is known for Pleistocene aged fossils dredged up from bottom sediments, including the archaic human mandible Penghu 1[3] as well as the extinct elephant Palaeoloxodon huaihoensis.[4]
- ^ William Campbell (1915). "Sketches from Formosa". p. 46.
On being told, however, that the Norwegian barque Daphne was about to leave An-peng for Tamsui, I had my things taken on board, and we set sail a few hours after. As there was not sufficient sea-room at this time of the year to beat up against the monsoon in the narrow Pescadores channel, the Captain decided to double South Cape, tack up the eastern side of Formosa, and thus reach Tamsui from the north.
- ^ Jan, Sen; Chao, Shenn-Yu (March 2003). "Seasonal variation of volume transport in the major inflow region of the Taiwan Strait: the Penghu Channel". Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography. 50 (6–7): 1117–1126. doi:10.1016/S0967-0645(03)00013-4.
- ^ Chang, Chun-Hsiang; Kaifu, Yousuke; Takai, Masanaru; Kono, Reiko T.; Grün, Rainer; Matsu’ura, Shuji; Kinsley, Les; Lin, Liang-Kong (2015). "The first archaic Homo from Taiwan". Nature Communications. 6: 6037. Bibcode:2015NatCo...6.6037C. doi:10.1038/ncomms7037. PMC 4316746. PMID 25625212.
Older low-sea-level events, 225, 240–280, ?300, 335–360 and 425–450 ka cannot be completely excluded as the age for Penghu 1, but such a situation requires explanation for preservation through repeated sedimentary events and the unusual distribution of Crocuta crocuta ultima. Therefore, Penghu 1 is younger than 450 ka, and most likely 10–70 ka or 130–190 ka.
- ^ Kang, Jia-Cih; Lin, Chien-Hsiang; Chang, Chun-Hsiang (2021-04-14). "Age and growth of Palaeoloxodon huaihoensis from Penghu Channel, Taiwan: significance of their age distribution based on fossils". PeerJ. 9: e11236. doi:10.7717/peerj.11236. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 8052959. PMID 33954049.