Particulate nitrogen and phosphorus in the East China Sea and its adjacent Kuroshio waters and evaluation of budgets for the East China Sea Shelf

The budgets of particulate N and P for the ECS Shelf during rainy season (May-October) were also evaluated. The total particulate N and P (TPN and TPP) fluxes from oceanic input are respectively 10.99 and 2.49 times of those from riverine input. And oceanic input contains more POP, which is liable to be decomposed into phosphate, than riverine input. Furthermore, particulate nutrients fluxes from photosynthesis are the overriding source of total influxes for the ECS Shelf, accounting for 90.93% of TPN and 89.37% of TPP influxes. As for the photosynthetic fixed N and P, only 6.17% and 7.60% of them can reach the seafloor, while up to 87.73% and 60.06% of them are likely to be remineralized. The POP-rich oceanic input and the intensive photosynthesis and remineralization processes play important roles in the biogeochemical cycles of N and P in the ECS.