Seasonal dynamics of primary and new production in the northern South China Sea: The significance of river discharge and nutrient advection

Biochemical and productivity measurements and nutrient enrichment experiments were conducted on three cruises in summer and two cruises in winter on the shelf and the basin of the northern South China Sea (SCS) between 2001 and 2004. Phytoplankton production, in terms of depth-integrated new production (INP) or depth-integrated primary production (IPP), was higher in winter than in summer and on the shelf than in the basin. In winter, with deepening of the mixed layer, nitrate from the shallow nitracline that characterized the SCS waters was made available in the surface and supported the highest production of the year. Averaged INP measured in winter (0.25 g C m−2 d−1) was about twice the summer average (0.12 g C m−2 d−1) and was 0.19 g C m−2 d−1 on the shelf compared with 0.15 g C m−2 d−1 in the basin. In winter, average INP on the shelf was higher than the basin (0.34 versus 0.21 g C m−2 d−1); whereas in summer, averaged INP on the shelf (0.13 g C m−2 d−1) and the basin (0.11 g C m−2 d−1) were similar. While averaged IPP measured in the basin was higher in winter than in summer (0.53 versus 0.35 g C m−2 d−1), IPP on the shelf showed little temporal variation (0.82 in winter versus 0.84 g C m−2 d−1 in summer). Considerable spatial and inter-annual variation in production was measured in the shelf waters during summer, which could be linked to discharge volume and plume flow direction of the Zhujiang River. While the shelf waters in summer were mostly nitrogen starved or nitrogen and phosphorus co-limited, excessive river runoff may cause the nutritive state to shift to phosphorus deficiency. Waters with low surface salinities and high fluorescence from riverine mixing could be found extending from the Zhujiang mouth to as far as offshore southern Taiwan after a typhoon passed the northern SCS and brought heavy rainfall. Overall, both nutrient advection in winter and river discharge from the China coast in summer made new nitrogen available and shaped the dynamics of phytoplankton production in these oligotrophic waters.