SEASONAL CHANGES OF VERTICAL PROFILES OF CHLOROPHYLL A IN THE AMUR BAY (JAPAN SEA)

Abstract

Seasonal changes of chlorophyll a profiles are traced over the Amur Bay (Peter the Great Bay, Japan Sea) in May-October, 2017 by means of oceanographic sonde-profiler equipped with fluorometer. Two principally different types of the vertical profiles are revealed, which were formed by different mechanisms of productivity: i) Chl a concentration had the maximum at the sea surface and decreased with the depth in the internal part of the bay occupied by the estuarine waters, and ii) Chl a concentration had the maximum below the seasonal pycnocline in the external part of the bay connected with the open sea. The highest Chl a concentration was observed in July-August for the estuarine type because of summer monsoon flood on the rivers, but in September for the marine type because of the coastal upwelling induced by monsoon winds change. Comparing these results with estimations of Chl a concentration made with the satellite data, insufficient correspondence is concluded for the external part of the bay, outside the estuarine zone, because the satellite data don’t reflect well the chlorophyll a in the subsurface layer and its seasonal variations. Thus, underestimation of real productivity and feeding ability of marine areas is available with the satellite data on chlorophyll a.

Keywords

• chlorophyll
• vertical profile
• estuary
• pycnocline
• seasonal variability
• monsoon flood
• coastal upwelling
• amur bay