ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil Advance Access originally published online on January 18, 2009
ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil 2009 66(2):420-431; doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsn219
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Seasonal and interannual variability of primary and export production in the South China Sea: a three-dimensional physical–biogeochemical model study
1 University of Maine, School of Marine Sciences, 5706 Aubert Hall, Orono, ME 04469, USA
2 Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266071, China
Correspondence to F. Chai: tel: +1 207 5814317; fax: +1 207 5814388; e-mail: fchai{at}maine.edu
Liu, G., and Chai, F. 2009. Seasonal and interannual variability of primary and export production in the South China Sea: a three-dimensional physical–biogeochemical model study. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 420–431.To investigate the seasonal and interannual variations in biological productivity in the South China Sea (SCS), a Pacific basin-wide physical–biogeochemical model has been developed and used to estimate the biological productivity and export flux in the SCS. The Pacific circulation model, based on the Regional Ocean Model Systems (ROMS), is forced with daily air–sea fluxes derived from the NCEP (National Centers for Environmental Prediction) reanalysis between 1990 and 2004. The biogeochemical processes are simulated with a carbon, Si(OH)4, and nitrogen ecosystem (CoSiNE) model consisting of silicate, nitrate, ammonium, two phytoplankton groups (small phytoplankton and large phytoplankton), two zooplankton grazers (small micrograzers and large mesozooplankton), and two detritus pools. The ROMS–CoSiNE model favourably reproduces many of the observed features, such as Chl a, nutrients, and primary production (PP) in the SCS. The modelled depth-integrated PP over the euphotic zone (0–125 m) varies seasonally, with the highest value of 386 mg C m–2 d–1 during winter and the lowest value of 156 mg C m–2 d–1 during early summer. The annual mean value is 196 mg C m–2 d–1. The model-integrated annual mean new production (uptake of nitrate), in carbon units, is 64.4 mg C m–2 d–1, which yields an f-ratio of 0.33 for the entire SCS. The modelled export ratio (e-ratio: the ratio of export to PP) is 0.24 for the basin-wide SCS. The year-to-year variation of biological productivity in the SCS is weaker than the seasonal variation. The large phytoplankton group tends to dominate over the smaller phytoplankton group, and likely plays an important role in determining the interannual variability of primary and new production.
Keywords: export flux, modelling, primary and new production, South China Sea
Received 5 September 2007; accepted 8 December 2008; advance access publication 18 January 2009.
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