Abstract
Nutrients in the coastal water of East Asia were surveyed from the point of contribution of the diluted water to the open water relative to the Kuroshio, the western boundary current. The Kuroshio runs along eastern Asia, sensing changes in environment in the coastal region. The nutrients-depleted water from the Kuroshio, close to the coastal water, provides heat energy and high saline water. The fresh water from the river contributes to the coastal water as diluted water and exhibits the entrainments of nutrient water into the Kuroshio. The nutrients are important parameters to monitor the interactions among the Kuroshio and inland waters. Nutrients exhibited a wide range of ratio between nitrate to phosphate, nitrate to silicate, and silicate to phosphate in East Asia as divergences from the Redfield ratios. The distribution of nutrients could also be monitored as the distribution of chlorophyll-a concentration using the ocean color sensors. Contrasts in chlorophyll-a concentration between the oligotrophic water of the Kuroshio and the trophic water of the coastal region exhibit the mixing process of two water masses. Although the chlorophyll-a concentrations estimated by the current ocean color algorithm over the coastal water are of insufficient accuracy, the distribution of chlorophyll-a concentration exhibits a variation of seasonal consumption of nutrients and response to the Kuroshio and river runoff.
References
Alvarez-Borrego S, Guthrie D, Culberson CH, Park PK (1975) Test of Redfield’s model for oxygen-nutrient relationships using regression analysis. Limnol Oceanogr 20:795–805
Anderson LA, Sarmiento JL (1994) Redfield ratios of remineralization determined by nutrient data analysis. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 8(1):65–80
Arrigo KR, Worthen D, Schnell A, Lizotte MP (1998) Primary production in Southern Ocean waters. J Geophys Res 103(C8):15587–15600
Banse K (1994) Uptake of inorganic carbon nitrate by marine plankton and the Redfield ratio. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 8(1):81–84
Boy JP, Chao BF (2002) Time-variable gravity signal during the water impoundment of China’s Three-Gorges Reservoir. Geophy Res Lett 29(24). doi:10.1029/2002GL016457
Brzezinski MA (1985) The Si:C: N ratio of marine diatoms: interspecific variability and the effect of some environmental variables. J Phycol 21:347–357
Chen CA (2000) The Three Gorges Dam: reducing the upwelling and thus productivity in the East China Sea. Geophys Res Lett 27(3):381–383
Chen C, Zhu J, Beardsley RC, Franks PJS (2003) Physical-biological sources for dense algal blooms near the Changjiang River. Geophys Res Lett 30(10):1515. doi:10.1029/2002GL016391
Chern CS, Wang J, Wang DP (1990) The exchange of Kuroshio and East China Sea shelf water. J Geophys Res 95(C9):16,017–16,023
Dai Z, Du J, Li J, Li W, Chen J (2008) Runoff characteristics of the Changjiang River during 2006: effect of extreme drought and the impounding of the Three Gorges Dam. Geophys Res Lett 35:L07406. doi:10.1029/2008GL033456
Delcroix T, Murtugudde R (2002) Sea surface salinity changes in the East China Sea during 1997–2001: influence of the Changjiang River. J Geophys Res 107(C12):8008. doi:10.1029/2001JC000893
Gong D, Ho C (2002) Shift in the summer rainfall over the Changjiang River valley in the late 1970s. Geophys Res Lett 29(10):1436. doi:10.1029/2001GL014523
Gong GC, Chang J, Chiang KP, Hsiung TM, Hung CC, Duan SW, Codispoti LA (2006) Reduction of primary production and changing of nutrient ratio in the East China Sea: effect of the Three Gorges Dam? Geophys Res Lett 33:L07610. doi:10.1029/2006GL025800
Hasegawa K, Hayashi T (2009) Nutrient status and Nori (Porphyra) aquaculture in Tokyo Bay. Aquabiology 31(2):161–164
Japan Meteorological Agency (1999) Ocean observation handbook. Japan Meteorological Agency, Tokyo
Lie HJ, Cho CH, Lee JH, Lee S (2001) Does the Yellow Sea Warm current really exist as a persistent mean flow? J Geophys Res 106(C10):22,199–22,210
Lie H, Cho C, Lee J, Lee S (2003) Structure and eastward extension of the Changjiang River plume in the East China Sea. J Geophys Res 108(C3):3077. doi:10.1029/2001JC001194
Liu AK, Chang YS, Hsu MK, Liang NK (1998) Evolution of nonlinear internal waves in the East and South China Seas. J Geophys Res 103(C4):7995–8008
Namias J (1970) Macroscale variations in sea-surface temperatures in the North Pacific. J Geophys Res 75(3):565–582
Ning X, Cai Y (1998) Physicobiological oceanographic remote sensing of the East China Sea: satellite and in situ observations. J Geophys Res 103(C10):21,623–21,635
Redfield AC, Ketehum BH, Richards FA (1963) The influence of organisms on the composition of sea-water. In: Hill MH (ed) The Sea 2. Interscience, New York, pp 26–77
Shue DD, Chou WC, Chen CTA, Wei CL, Hsieh, Hou WP, Dai M (2009) Riding over the Kuroshio from the South To the East China Sea: mixing and transport of DIC. Geophys Res Lett 36:L07603. doi:10.1029/2008GL037017
Takahashi T, Broecker WS, Anger S (1985) Redfield ratio based on chemical data from isopycnal surfaces. J Geophys Res 90(C4):6907–6924
Wang H (2000) Surface vertical displacements and level plane changes in the front reservoir area caused by filling the Three Gorges Reservoir. J Geophys Res 105(B6):13211–13220
Wu CR, Chang YL, Oey LY, Chang CWJ, Hsin YC (2008) Air-sea interaction between tropical cyclone Nari and Kuroshio. Geophys Res Lett 35:L12605. doi:10.1029/2008GL033942
Yan W, Zhang S (2003) How do nitrogen inputs to the Changjiang basin impact the Changjiang River nitrate: a temporal analysis for 1968–1997. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 17(4):1091. doi:10.1029/2002GB002029
Zhang J, Zhang ZF, Liu SM, Wu Y, Xiong H, Chen HT (1999) Human impacts on the large world rivers: would the Changjiang (Yangtze River) be an illustration? Glob Biogeochem Cycles 13(4):1099–1105
Acknowledgments
This study was mainly conducted under the research project for a sustainable development of economic and social structures dependent on the environment of the eastern coast of Asia, which is supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of Japan. This study was also supported by the fund of the Office of Naval Research (07PR04457-00).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Asanuma, I., Zhang, Xg., Zhao, C. et al. Nutrients distribution in the coastal water of East Asia relative to the Kuroshio. Landscape Ecol Eng 10, 191–199 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11355-013-0242-7
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11355-013-0242-7