Ecological model experiments of the spring bloom at a dumping site in the Yellow Sea

Abstract

To explore limiting factors of spring bloom caused by waste disposal after dumping activity commenced in the Yellow Sea, we used a 1-dimensional temperature-ecological coupled model. The vertical structure of temperature and vertical diffusivity (Kh) are calculated by the temperature model with sea surface temperature using the 2.5 layers turbulence closure scheme. The ecological model applied results at the temperature model consisted of five state variables (DIN, DIP, phytoplankton, zooplankton, and detritus) forced by photosynthetically available radiation. We simulate year-to-year variations of plankton and nutrients using the coupled model from 1998 to 2000 and compare results of the model with observed data. It turned out that temperature is the growth factor of spring bloom in dumping area. During the winter the weak stratification made sufficient supply of the accumulated nutrients from the sea bed into the upper water column and led to the bloom in the coming spring. Radiation also turned out to be another important factor of spring bloom in the study area. Insufficient radiation of March 1999 showed low chlorophyll-a concentration despite sufficient nutrients in the surface.