A Preliminary Study of Suspended Matters Variation Associated with Hypoxia and Shoaling Internal Tides on the Continental Shelf of the Northern Andaman Sea

Abstract

The northern Andaman Sea (AS) continental shelf is unique due to the diverse marine ecosystem and existences of both hypoxia and internal tides, but limited in situ observations restrict our understanding of the hydrographic dynamic process. Based on the turbidity, mean volumes of backscattering strength (MVBS), we qualitatively studied the mean distribution characteristics and temporal variation in suspended matters on the northern AS continental shelf and their relation to hypoxia and internal tides. The results of both MVBS and turbidity revealed that the suspended matters exhibited a three-layer vertical structure. The upper and lower layers exhibited high values, while the middle layer had low values. The upper boundary of the high-value region in the upper layer descended below the surface to a depth of 30 m after sunrise and returned to the surface after sunset, indicating a diel vertical migration of zooplankton and micronekton. Daytime migration depth was likely constrained by hypoxia’s upper boundary. In the lower layer, three MVBS enhancements and attenuations correlated with vertical upward and downward velocities, respectively, primarily driven by uplift or suppression. We proposed vertical velocity patterns resulted from internal bores, possibly triggered by shoaling semidiurnal internal tides.

Keywords

• mean volumes of backscattering strength
• hypoxia
• internal tides
• northern Andaman Sea