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Different hydrodynamic processes regulated on water quality (nutrients, dissolved oxygen, and phytoplankton biomass) in three contrasting waters of Hong Kong

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Abstract

The subtropical Hong Kong (HK) waters are located at the eastern side of the Pearl River Estuary. Monthly changes of water quality, including nutrients, dissolved oxygen (DO), and phytoplankton biomass (Chl-a) were routinely investigated in 2003 by the Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department in three contrasting waters of HK with different prevailing hydrodynamic processes. The western, eastern, and southern waters were mainly dominated by nutrient-replete Pearl River discharge, the nutrient-poor coastal/shelf oceanic waters, and mixtures of estuarine and coastal seawater and sewage effluent of Hong Kong, respectively. Acting in response, the water quality in these three contrasting areas showed apparently spatial–temporal variation pattern. Nutrients usually decreased along western waters to eastern waters. In the dry season, the water column was strongly mixed by monsoon winds and tidal currents, which resulted in relatively low Chl-a (<5 μg l−1) and high bottom DO (>4 mg l−1), suggesting that mixing enhanced the buffering capacity of eutrophication in HK waters. However, in the wet season, surface Chl-a was generally >10 μg l−1 in southern waters in summer due to halocline and thermohaline stratification, adequate nutrients, and light availability. Although summer hypoxia (DO <2 mg l−1) was episodically observed near sewage effluent site and in southern waters induced by vertical stratification, the eutrophication impacts in HK waters were not as severe as expected owing to P limitation and short water residence time in the wet season.

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Acknowledgments

This study was financially supported by grants from the Natural Science Fund of China (31370500, 31370499, and 41106107), the Global Change Scientific Research Program of China (2010CB951201), the Research Grants Council projects (HKUST 6296/03 M and 6505/06 M), and the University Grants Committee Area of Excellence project (AoE/P-04/04-01) of Hong Kong. We would like to thank Prof Kedong Yin at SunYat-Sen University and Prof Paul J. Harrison at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology for their support for this manuscript, and the HKEPD and HKO for permitting us to use their water quality monitoring data and weather data for this publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology (LMB) and Tropical Marine Biological Research Station (TMBRS) in Hainan, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, China

    Weihua Zhou, Xiangcheng Yuan, Hui Huang & Weizhong Yue

  2. State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography (LTO), South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, China

    Aimin Long

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  1. Weihua Zhou
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  2. Xiangcheng Yuan
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  3. Aimin Long
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  4. Hui Huang
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  5. Weizhong Yue
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Correspondence to Weihua Zhou or Aimin Long.

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Zhou, W., Yuan, X., Long, A. et al. Different hydrodynamic processes regulated on water quality (nutrients, dissolved oxygen, and phytoplankton biomass) in three contrasting waters of Hong Kong. Environ Monit Assess 186, 1705–1718 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-013-3487-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-013-3487-6

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