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Distribution of reactive aluminum under the influence of mesoscale eddies in the western South China Sea

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Abstract

To understand the distribution of aluminum (Al) under the influence of mesocale eddies in the western South China Sea (SCS), sea level anomaly, geostrophic current, environmental parameters and reactive Al were investigated in the western SCS in August 2013. The highest reactive Al concentration ((180±64) nmol/L) was observed in the surface waters, indicating a substantial atmospheric input. Vertically, the reactive Al decreased from the surface high concentration to the subsurface minima at the depth of chlorophyll a (Chl a) maxima and then increased again with depth at most of the stations. The average concentration of reactive Al in the upper 100 m water column was significantly lower in the cyclonic eddy ((137±6) nmol/L) as compared with that in the noneddy waters ((180±21) nmol/L). By contrast, the average concentrations of Chl a and silicate in the upper 100 m water column were higher in the cyclonic eddy and lower in the anticyclonic eddy. There was a significant negative correlation between the average concentrations of reactive Al and Chl a in the upper 100 m water column. The vertical distribution of reactive Al and the negative correlation between reactive Al and Chl a both suggest that the reactive Al in the upper water column was significantly influenced by biological removal processes. Our results indicate that mesoscale eddies could regulate the distribution of reactive Al by influencing the primary production and phytoplankton community structure in the western SCS.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Wang Junxing for helpful discussion during the preparation of this manuscript. We also appreciate the support from the captain and crews of the R/V Shiyan III.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, China

    Jiaxing Liu, Linbin Zhou, Yehui Tan, Qiong Wang, Zifeng Hu, Jiajun Li, Xin Jiang & Zhixin Ke

  2. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Marine Biology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, China

    Jiaxing Liu, Linbin Zhou, Yehui Tan, Qiong Wang, Zifeng Hu, Jiajun Li, Xin Jiang & Zhixin Ke

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Jiaxing Liu, Qiong Wang, Zifeng Hu, Jiajun Li & Xin Jiang

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  1. Jiaxing Liu
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Correspondence to Zhixin Ke.

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Foundation item: The Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences under contract No. XDA11020305; the National Basic Research Program (973 program) of China under contract No. 2015CB452903; the Special Fund for Agro-scientific Research in the Public Interest under contract No. 201403008; the National Project of Basic Sciences and Technology under contract No. 2017FY201404; the National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 41506150 and 41276162.

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Liu, J., Zhou, L., Tan, Y. et al. Distribution of reactive aluminum under the influence of mesoscale eddies in the western South China Sea. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 36, 95–103 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-017-1046-7

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