Impact of the exceptionally high flood from the Changjiang River on the aquatic chemical distributions on the Huanghai Sea and East China Sea shelves in the summer of 1998

On the basis of the field observation in the Huanghai Sea and East China Sea in the summer of 1998, a rare event of exceptionally high discharge from the Changjiang River was described and how this high discharge altered water masses as well as chemical distributions on the shelves of the Huanghai Sea and East China Sea. The maximal extending ranges of the Changjiang diluted water and the nutrients in the freshwater from the Changjiang River were recorded for the first time. It was also found that there was a closed area with high oxygen and pH values in the offshore area of the southern Huanghai Sea and the northern East China Sea, indicating that the extensive spreading of nutrients due to the high discharge led to photosynthesis of phytoplankton mostly taking place in the offshore area far from the river mouth. The presence of "excess nitrogen" in almost all the northern East China Sea and the south of the Huanghai Sea suggests that these areas are potentially phosphorus-limited rather than nitrogen-limited, manifesting more like an estuarine ecosystem rather than a common marine ecosystem.