Abundance of colloidal organic phosphorus in the Taiwan Strait

Abstract

The Taiwan Strait is a coastal sea with dynamic hydrologic condition and dissolved organic matter (DOM) cycling. To better understand its phosphorus (P) transformation, phosphate and bulk dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) concentrations were determined in the surface water of the Taiwan Strait during 2010 and 2011 summers. The bulk DOP was further fractionated into the low molecular weight (LMW) DOP and colloidal organic phosphorus (COP) with the application of the cross-flow ultrafiltration technique at a size cut-off of 10 kDa. The surface water in the Taiwan Strait generally showed higher bulk DOP concentration than phosphate excluding estuarine stations. This is similar to the surface waters in the subtropical gyres, implying a P-deficient condition in the Taiwan Strait. The LMW-DOP followed a constant permeation behavior in the ultrafiltration experiments, allowing the quantification of LMW-DOP and COP concentrations with the ultrafiltration permeation model. The average COP concentration was 0.044 ± 0.022 μmol/L and 0.042 ± 0.027 μmol/L during 2010 and 2011 summers, respectively. Accordingly, COP accounted for 35 ± 13% and 34 ± 16% of bulk DOP during 2010 and 2011 summers, respectively, suggesting a substantial occurrence of organic phosphorus in the colloidal fraction. The C/P ratio decreased from LMW-DOM to bulk DOM and to colloidal organic matter (COM), supporting the degradation pathway of bulk DOM from colloidal to LMW fractions and the lability of COP in the Taiwan Strait. The fractionation of C/P ratio between bulk DOM and COM in the Taiwan Strait, denoted by the fractionation factor (FC/D), was comparable to the open oceans, but significantly stronger than rivers and estuaries. It might indicate an autochthonous input and rapid turnover of bulk DOP pool in the Taiwan Strait in the context of low phosphate concentration. The FC/D also showed a spatial variability in the Taiwan Strait, high in the South China Sea Warm Current and upwelling occupied stations and low in inshore areas influenced by terrestrial input. This further supports the FC/D as an indicator of bulk DOM sources besides its application to decipher the diagenetic status of bulk DOM and biogeochemical cycles of bulk DOP in the coastal oceans.