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The Impact of Typhoon “Mangkhut” on Surface Water Nutrient and Chlorophyll Inventories of the South China Sea in September 2018
Summary
This study analyzed how Typhoon Mangkhut altered nutrient distribution and primary productivity in the northern South China Sea in 2018, finding significant increases in nitrate and phosphate in shelf waters driven by storm-induced mixing. Typhoons can also redistribute surface plastic debris, making extreme weather events important to consider in models of marine plastic transport.
Abstract The influence of the exceptionally strong typhoon Mangkhut on the availability of nutrients and changes in primary production were studied in the northern South China Sea in September 2018. A tight station grid was sampled to analyze major nutrients, chlorophyll_a, particulate and dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen. Based on interpolated profiles, nutrients and organic matter budgets were determined for the upper 100 m of the water column prior to and after Mangkhut's passage. An upper layer of 100 m was found to reflect the important changes by the typhoon. Considerable differences between the on‐shelf, shelf edge and the deep‐sea stations were determined. Nitrate and phosphate increased by about 80% and 36% on the shelf, respectively, and both by almost 40% at the shelf edge. The open deep‐sea part of the study area reflects some deviating results that may be caused by just displacement of water or by mixing water of different origin. However, right on Mangkhut's track on the shelf even contact between surface waters and bottom waters was enabled, increasing phosphate and silicate, but declining nitrate. The inventory of organic carbon of the upper 100 m of the study area (138,000 km 2 ) of 92 Gmol had increased within a few days after the typhoon's passage by 5 Gmol on the shelf and about 2 Gmol in the shelf edge area. Chlorophyll_a doubled during our stay and might have reached a factor of 3 increase in the subsequent time by nitrate supply and excess phosphate.
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