Terrestrial, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (TAO) is a bi-monthly academic journal for the publication of scientific research papers on the solid earth, the atmosphere, the hydrosphere and the space. Since March 2003 (Vol. 14), TAO has been selected for coverage by the Science Citation Index® (SCI). It is published by the Chinese Geoscience Union (located in Taipei), the Geological Society, the Geophysical Society, and the Meteorological Society of the Republic of China (ROC). This journal publishes articles, notes, correspondences and reviews. Reviews should put previous scientific work of at least ten years in perspective; other manuscripts should be unpublished original contributions and of significant scientific values. Contents of TAO are also covered by GEOREF Serials List, Research Alert ®, and Current Contents ®/Physical Chemical and Earth Sciences. The publication of this journal is partially subsidized by the National Science Council of the ROC. The following journals have merged into TAO: