Seasonal Upwelling in the Northern Arafura Sea from Multi-datasets in 2017

Abstract

Seasonal upwelling phenomenon in the Arafura Sea plays an important role on supplying upwelled nutrient-rich water to sustain biogeochemistry processes and thus contributes to high marine primary productivity and fisheries resources in this region. The objective of this research was to investigate physical process and dynamics of upwelling by analyzing stratification of seawater properties, evolution of surface ocean-atmosphere parameters, and current structure and transport volume in the northern Arafura Sea. The multi-datasets in 2017 were used in this study, acquired from field CTD measurement, satellite-derived sea surface parameters, and the ocean general circulation model outputs, which were processed and analyzed using the available standard procedure. It was found that upwelling event was associated with a sharp subsurface thin layer that upsloping isotherms (23.5 - 25.5°C), isohalines (33.50 - 34.25 psu), and isopycnals (21.8 - 23.2 kg/m³) from the shelf-break region to the inner shelf region at a distance of approximately 167 km. This barrier layer separated the first surface mixed layer from the second mixed layer beneath the subsurface layer. The model suggests that the current in these two layers is in the opposite direction, to the west in the first layer as a response to the Ekman drift and to the east in the second layer as a current extension from deep Aru basin. Therefore, upwelling dynamics here is not only generated by the southeasterly monsoon winds from May (onset) to November (termination) that transport warm and fresh surface water away from the shelf, but also modulated by the presence of strong inflow currents beneath subsurface that supply colder saltier nutrient-rich water into the shelf. During the upwelling period, mean transport volume in the upper 25 m depth between Aru and Papua at 134.25°E was -0.28 (±0.34) Sv (westward), but the transport volume between 25m and 110m depth was +1.06 (±0.29) Sv (eastward), suggesting this inflow may regulate the upwelling and supply Arafura shelf water.