Nutrient dynamics in the winter thermohaline frontal zone of the northern shelf region of the South China Sea

Abstract

As the first attempt to estimate the nutrient transport across the winter thermohaline frontal zone on the northern shelf of the South China Sea, the nutrient dynamics around the front and the effects of cross‐frontal water exchange on nutrient transport were investigated using wintertime field observations. Both water temperature and salinity increased from coastal to oceanic waters, showing the presence of a thermohaline front. The concentrations of dissolved inorganic nutrients decreased oceanward, especially across the thermohaline front, while those of dissolved organic nutrients (i.e., dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and dissolved organic phosphorus) showed patchy distributions. Ammonium was the major constituent of dissolved inorganic nitrogen, and DON was the main component of total dissolved nitrogen. Molar ratios of PO43−/total dissolved phosphorus decreased from coastal to oceanic waters, indicating that PO43− was rapidly removed and/or consumed from the water column and that organic matter degradation increased offshore, replenishing PO43−. Molar ratios of NO3−/(NH4+ + DON) were 0.01–0.6, indicating dominance of regenerated nitrogen. Surface water convergence and bottom water divergence were identified in the across‐shore velocity field, and the calculated across‐shore nutrient fluxes suggest that the presence of the winter thermohaline front promotes the offshore transport of nutrients from coastal waters. The transport path begins with convergence of surface coastal waters toward the front, followed by the sinking in the frontal region and the oceanward movement through the bottom layer of the front offshore side. With an assumption of 500 km as the length of thermohaline front on the northern shelf of the South China Sea, the calculated offshore fluxes of nutrients across the entire front are larger than those from the Zhujiang (Pearl River) and the Changjiang (Yangtze River).