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Physical and biological controls on the summer chlorophyll bloom to the east of Vietnam

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Abstract

The contributions of physical and biological processes to the chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) bloom to the east of Vietnam in summer are examined. The offshore jet redistributes Chl-a concentration by transporting high Chl-waters from the continental margin to the east of Vietnam. The jet also contributes to high concentrations of nutrients and zooplankton biomass that lead to a dynamic balance between increased nutrients and grazing pressure for phytoplankton growth. As a consequence, the net biological processes reduce the Chl-a concentrations in the broader offshore region, but they also maintain the filaments with higher Chl-a stretching away from the coast due to the reduced grazing pressure.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant SQ201302), Open fund of State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography (LTO1107), the Guangzhou City Project for the Pearl River New Star in Science and Technology (Grant 2013J2200087) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 41106027 and 41206008).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 164 West Xingang Road, Guangzhou, 510301, China

    Gengxin Chen & Peng Xiu

  2. School of Marine Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA

    Peng Xiu & Fei Chai

Authors
  1. Gengxin Chen
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  2. Peng Xiu
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  3. Fei Chai
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Correspondence to Gengxin Chen.

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Chen, G., Xiu, P. & Chai, F. Physical and biological controls on the summer chlorophyll bloom to the east of Vietnam. J Oceanogr 70, 323–328 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-014-0232-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-014-0232-x

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