Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

A Unique Seasonal Pattern In Phytoplankton Biomass In Low-Latitude Waters In The South China Sea, Chun-Mao Tseng, George T. F. Wong, I.-I. Lin, C.-R. Wu, K.-K. Liu

OES Faculty Publications

A distinctive seasonal pattern in phytoplankton biomass was observed at the South East Asian Time series Study (SEATS) station (18°N, 116°E) in the northern South China Sea (SCS). Surface chlorophyll-a, depth integrated chlorophyll-a and primary production were elevated to 0.3 mg/m³, ~35 mg/m² and 300 mg-C/m²/d, respectively, in the winter but stayed low, at 0.1 mg/m³, ~15 mg/m² and 110 mg-C/m²/d as commonly found in other low latitude waters, in the rest of the year. Concomitantly, soluble reactive phosphate and nitrate+nitrite in the mixed layer also became …