An inner shelf penetrating front and its potential biogeochemical effects in the East China Sea during October

Hui Ding; Qinsheng Wei; Ming Xin; Yuhang Zhao; Bin Zhao; Mingyu Wang; Fei Teng; Xuehai Liu; Baodong Wang

doi:10.1007/s13131-024-2432-6

Volume 43 Issue 11

Nov. 2024

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Hui Ding, Qinsheng Wei, Ming Xin, Yuhang Zhao, Bin Zhao, Mingyu Wang, Fei Teng, Xuehai Liu, Baodong Wang. An inner shelf penetrating front and its potential biogeochemical effects in the East China Sea during October[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2024, 43(11): 1-11. doi: 10.1007/s13131-024-2432-6

Citation:

Hui Ding, Qinsheng Wei, Ming Xin, Yuhang Zhao, Bin Zhao, Mingyu Wang, Fei Teng, Xuehai Liu, Baodong Wang. An inner shelf penetrating front and its potential biogeochemical effects in the East China Sea during October[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2024, 43(11): 1-11. doi: 10.1007/s13131-024-2432-6

Citation:

Hui Ding, Qinsheng Wei, Ming Xin, Yuhang Zhao, Bin Zhao, Mingyu Wang, Fei Teng, Xuehai Liu, Baodong Wang. An inner shelf penetrating front and its potential biogeochemical effects in the East China Sea during October[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2024, 43(11): 1-11. doi: 10.1007/s13131-024-2432-6

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An inner shelf penetrating front and its potential biogeochemical effects in the East China Sea during October

doi: 10.1007/s13131-024-2432-6

Hui Ding^1,,
Qinsheng Wei^{1, 2, †
,
,},
Ming Xin¹,
Yuhang Zhao¹,
Bin Zhao¹,
Mingyu Wang¹,
Fei Teng³,
Xuehai Liu³,
Baodong Wang^{1, 2
,
,}

1.
Research Center for Marine Ecology, First Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao 266061, China
2.
Laboratory for Marine Ecology and Environmental Science, Qingdao Marine Science and Technology Center, Qingdao 266237, China
3.
Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science and Numerical Modeling, First Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao 266061, China

Funds: The National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos U23A2033 and 41876085; the Basic Scientific Fund of the National Public Research Institutes of China under contract No. 2020S03.

More Information

Corresponding author: weiqinsheng@fio.org.cn; wangbd@fio.org.cn
Received Date: 2023-12-21
Accepted Date: 2024-02-05

Available Online: 2024-11-20

Publish Date: 2024-11-25

Abstract

Abstract

Based on in-situ observations in the East China Sea (ECS) during October 2021, we investigated a cross-shelf penetrating front (PF) in the inner shelf and explored its potential biogeochemical-ecological effects from a multidisciplinary perspective. The results show that a pronounced tongue-shaped PF was present at the southeast of the Hangzhou Bay, with salinity of 29−32 and a seaward horizontal penetration scale of ~200 km. It mainly occurred in the upper layers, and a spatial separation existed between this PF and the bottom salinity front in the northern coastal region off Zhejiang. In contrast, the salinity fronts at surface and bottom were well matched in the southern coastal area. Compared to the surface-to-bottom consistent coastal front in the southern region off Zhejiang, a stronger thermocline and halocline were sustained in the northern PF-dominated region, and suitable conditions could be achieved for phytoplankton growth and accumulation. The in-situ observed high-chlorophyll a (Chl a) zone in a seaward tongue shape was further an important indicator or signal for PF occurrence, and it was responsible for the decoupling of nutrient distributions and PF. The southern coastal front off Zhejiang might largely restrict the seaward transport of nutrients, and the dynamic environment under weak stratification in this region was disadvantageous for the growth of phytoplankton; thus the Chl a content was maintained at a relatively low level near the southern coastal region. Our results demonstrate that the PF combined with the coastal front may play an important role in shaping/regulating hydrodynamics, nutrient distributions and the Chl a regime over the inner ECS shelf.
- penetrating front,
- biogeochemical effects,
- nutrient,
- chlorophyll a,
- East China Sea

†These authors contributed equally to this work.

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References(76)

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