Mitigation of hypoxia and ocean acidification on the inner East China Sea shelf impacted by the 2023 summer drought

Abstract

Hypoxia and acidification are universal environmental issues in coastal seas, especially in large river dominated shelves, and the East China Sea shelf is a typical case among them. However, the responses of status of hypoxia and acidification in coastal seas to the extremes of river discharges are still to be revealed. This study surveyed the influences of a summer drought on the status of hypoxia and acidification on the inner East China Sea shelf off the Changjiang estuary. In August of 2023 during a summer drought, carbonate system parameters and dissolved oxygen (DO) were surveyed on the East China Sea shelf off the Changjiang estuary. As expected, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) removal (up to >40 μmol kg−1) and DO over-saturation (up to >110 %) accompanied by high pH (up to >8.15) in the surface water were observed. However, low DO (32–172 μmol kg−1), low pH (7.63–8.04) and low saturation state index of aragonite (ΩAr) (1.34–3.06) in the bottom water were observed. Relationships of Excess DIC with DO consumption, and pH and ΩAr with Excess DIC indicated that the hypoxia and acidification in the bottom water was due mainly to the remineralization of the marine-sourced organic matter. Nevertheless, both hypoxia and acidification were mitigated, i.e. the hypoxic area was smaller, the minimum DO concentration, pH and saturation state index of aragonite were higher in August of 2023 than under the general summer condition. The lower Changjiang discharge (∼60 % of the long-term monthly average) mitigated eutrophication of the East China Sea shelf and decreased the phytoplankton biomass in the surface water and subsequently the hypoxia and acidification in the bottom water. However, acidification of the bottom water on the East China Sea shelf was still severe even during the summer drought. Regulating the anthropogenic impact on the coastal marginal seas is still urgently needed to mitigate the acidification status.