Contribution of Changjiang River discharge to CO2 uptake capacity of the northern East China Sea in August 2016

2021 ◽  
Vol 215 ◽  
pp. 104336
Author(s):  
Yujeong Choi ◽  
Dongseon Kim ◽  
Jae Hoon Noh ◽  
Dong-Jin Kang
2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 13977-14007 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.-M. Tseng ◽  
P.-Y. Shen ◽  
K.-K. Liu

Abstract. Limited observations exist for reliable assessment of annual CO2 uptake that takes into consideration the strong seasonal variation in the river-dominated East China Sea (ECS). Here we explore seasonally representative CO2 uptakes by the whole East China Sea derived from observations over a 14 yr period. We firstly identified the biological sequestration of CO2 taking place in the highly productive, nutrient-enriched Changjiang river plume, dictated by the Changjiang river discharge in warm seasons. We have therefore established an empirical algorithm as a function of sea surface temperature (SST) and Changjiang river discharge (CRD) for predicting sea surface pCO2. Synthesis based on both observation and model show that the annually averaged CO2 uptake from atmosphere during 1998–2011 was constrained to about 1.9 mol C m–2 yr–1. This assessment of annual CO2 uptake is more reliable and representative, compared to previous estimates, in terms of temporal and spatial coverage. Additionally, the CO2 time-series, exhibiting distinct seasonal pattern, gives mean fluxes of −3.0, −1.0, −0.9 and −2.5 mol C m–2 yr–1 in spring, summer, fall and winter, respectively, and also reveals apparent inter-annual variations. The flux seasonality shows a strong sink in spring and a weak source in late summer-early fall. The weak sink status during warm periods in summer-fall is fairly sensitive to changes of pCO2 and may easily shift from a sink to a source altered by environmental changes under climate change and anthropogenic forcing.


2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (14) ◽  
pp. 3855-3870 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.-M. Tseng ◽  
P.-Y. Shen ◽  
K.-K. Liu

Abstract. Limited observations exist for a reliable assessment of annual CO2 uptake that takes into consideration the strong seasonal variation in the river-dominated East China Sea (ECS). Here we explore seasonally representative CO2 uptakes by the whole East China Sea derived from observations over a 14-year period. We firstly identified the biological sequestration of CO2 taking place in the highly productive, nutrient-enriched Changjiang River plume, dictated by the Changjiang River discharge in warm seasons. We have therefore established an empirical algorithm as a function of sea surface temperature (SST) and Changjiang River discharge (CRD) for predicting sea surface pCO2. Syntheses based on both observations and models show that the annually averaged CO2 uptake from atmosphere during the period 1998–2011 was constrained to about 1.8 ± 0.5 mol C m−2 yr−1. This assessment of annual CO2 uptake is more reliable and representative, compared to previous estimates, in terms of temporal and spatial coverage. Additionally, the CO2 time series, exhibiting distinct seasonal pattern, gives mean fluxes of −3.7 ± 0.5, −1.1 ± 1.3, −0.3 ± 0.8 and −2.5 ± 0.7 mol C m−2 yr−1 in spring, summer, fall and winter, respectively, and also reveals apparent interannual variations. The flux seasonality shows a strong sink in spring and a weak source in late summer–mid-fall. The weak sink status during warm periods in summer–fall is fairly sensitive to changes of pCO2 and may easily shift from a sink to a source altered by environmental changes under climate change and anthropogenic forcing.


2019 ◽  
Vol 124 (7) ◽  
pp. 5244-5257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zheng‐Xi Zhou ◽  
Ren‐Cheng Yu ◽  
Chaojiao Sun ◽  
Ming Feng ◽  
Ming‐Jiang Zhou

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 2931-2943 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.-C. Chen ◽  
G.-C. Gong ◽  
F.-K. Shiah ◽  
W.-C. Chou ◽  
C.-C. Hung

Abstract. A tremendous amount of organic carbon respired by plankton communities has been found in summer in the East China Sea (ECS), and this rate has been significantly correlated with fluvial discharge from the Changjiang River. However, respiration data has rarely been collected in other seasons. To evaluate and reveal the potential controlling mechanism of organic carbon consumption in spring in the ECS, two cruises covering almost the entire ECS shelf were conducted in the spring of 2009 and 2010. These results showed that although the fluvial discharge rates were comparable to the high riverine flow in summer, the plankton community respiration (CR) varied widely between the two springs. In 2009, the level of CR was double that of 2010, with mean (± SD) values of 111.7 (±76.3) and 50.7 (±62.9) mg C m−3 d−1, respectively. The CR was positively correlated with concentrations of particulate organic carbon and/or chlorophyll a (Chl a) in 2009 (all p < 0.01). These results suggest that the high CR rate in 2009 can be attributed to high planktonic biomasses. During this period, phytoplankton growth flourished due to allochthonous nutrients discharged from the Changjiang River. Furthermore, higher phytoplankton growth led to the absorption of an enormous amount of fugacity of CO2 (fCO2) in the surface waters, even with a significant amount of inorganic carbon regenerated via CR. In 2010, even more riverine runoff nutrients were measured in the ECS than in 2009. Surprisingly, the growth of phytoplankton in 2010 was not stimulated by enriched nutrients, and its growth was likely limited by low water temperature and/or low light intensity. Low temperature might also suppress planktonic metabolism, which could explain why the CR was lower in 2010. During this period, lower surface water fCO2 may have been driven mainly by physical process(es). To conclude, these results indicate that high organic carbon consumption (i.e. CR) in the spring of 2009 could be attributed to high planktonic biomasses, and the lower CR rate during the cold spring of 2010 might be likely limited by low temperature in the ECS. This further suggests that the high inter-annual variability of organic carbon consumption needs to be kept in mind when budgeting the annual carbon balance.


2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 16533-16564
Author(s):  
C.-C. Chen ◽  
G.-C. Gong ◽  
F.-K. Shiah ◽  
W.-C. Chou ◽  
C.-C. Hung

Abstract. A tremendous amount of organic carbon respired by planktonic communities has been found in summer in the East China Sea (ECS), and this rate has been significantly correlated with fluvial discharge from the Changjiang River. However, data related to this issue in other seasons have rarely been collected. To evaluate and reveal the potential controlling mechanism of organic carbon consumption in spring in the ECS, research using stations covering almost the entire ECS shelf was conducted in the spring of 2009 and 2010. During both periods, the fluvial discharges were similar, and these rates were comparable to high riverine flow in summer. Interestingly, planktonic community respiration (CR) varied widely in both springs; in 2009, the level of CR was double that of 2010, with mean (± SD) values of 111.7 (± 76.3) and 50.7 (± 62.9) mg C m−3 d−1, respectively. The CR was positively linearly regressed with concentrations of particulate organic carbon and/or chlorophyll a (Chl a) in 2009 (all p< 0.01). These results suggest that the rate was dependent on planktonic activities, especially that of phytoplankton, in 2009. During this period, phytoplankton growth flourished due to allochthonous nutrients discharged from the Changjiang River. Furthermore, higher phytoplankton growth leaded to the absorption of an enormous amount of fugacity of CO2 (fCO2) in the surface waters, even with a significant amount of inorganic carbon regenerated via CR. In 2010, there were even more riverine runoff nutrients into the ECS than in 2009. Surprisingly, the growth of phytoplankton in 2010 was not stimulated by enriched nutrients, and its growth was likely limited by low water temperature and/or low light intensity. Low temperature might also suppress planktonic metabolism, and this could explain why the CR was lower in 2010. During this period, lower surface water fCO2 might have mainly been driven by physical process(es). To conclude, these results indicate that organic carbon consumption (i.e. CR) in the ECS in spring might be controlled by the magnitude of planktonic activities and physical factor (e.g. temperature), and that the latter is especially important during a cold spring season. This further suggests that the high intraseasonal variability of organic carbon consumption needs to be kept in mind when budgeting the annual carbon balance.


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