Atmospheric Wet Deposition of Nutrient Elements: Correlation with Harmful Biological Blooms in Northwest Pacific Coastal Zones
Zhang J. 1994. Atmospheric Wet Deposition of Nutrient Elements: Correlation with Harmful Biological Blooms in Northwest Pacific Coastal Zones. Ambio. 23(8):464-468
Eutrophication may occur in northwestern Pacific coastal zones (e.g. in the Yellow Sea) where nutrient concentrations in seawater are quite low (oligotrophical areas). This study provides evidence of a correlation between harmful plankton blooms and episodic atmospheric depositions of nutrients in coastal oligotrophic zones. Time and space coincidences suggest that eutrophication may be induced by the atmospheric supply of nutrients and trace species. In the Yellow Sea, where the influence of waste runoff from land is very limited and/or completely absent, atmospheric deposition may become the major source of nutrient elements to the euphotic zone particularly in regions where upward input (e.g. upwelling) is small. On an average, episodic deposition of nutrient elements accounts for only a small fraction (£ 10%) of the concentrations in seawater. However, individual rain events may result in temporal eutrophication of surface waters, which may cause harmful blooms to develop in the northwestern Pacific shelf regions.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Zhang, Jing
- Units
- ARD
- Keywords
- AIRBIB, biological blooms, Eutrophication, Nutrients, Seawater, Wet Deposition