Winter bloom initiation with water column stabilization and improvement of light environment in a turbid shallow coastal water

We conducted continuous mooring observation from autumn to winter of fiscal year 2020 to elucidate the mechanism of red tide development in the inner Ariake Sea, a very turbid shallow coastal water in Japan. The red tide dominated by Skeletonema spp. (mainly Skeletonema dohnii) developed at first neap tide after the annual minimum water temperature. Red tides at similar times of the year have been frequently observed here. Formation of two physical environments favorable for phytoplankton proliferation played a trigger role. One was stabilization of water column due to net heat flux transition through the sea surface from cooling to heating in mid-winter. Another was deepening of euphotic layer up to or exceeding water depth at the neap tide. Since the inner Ariake Sea has the small heat capacity due to its shallowness, the air and water temperature fluctuated almost in tandem, and reached their respective lowest values with a short time lag. The sea-surface heat flux, a main factor governing water temperature fluctuations, was dominated by latent heat and showed the highest correlation with the difference between atmospheric and sea-surface specific humidity. After mid-January, the atmosphere stabilized as the air temperature exceeded the water temperature, and the sea-surface cooling due to the latent heat weakened. With the heat flux change from negative to positive, the water column was stabilized. Then, winter bloom occurred during the neap tide when the compensation depth became deep with the decrease in suspended sediment concentration.

Automated summary

We conducted continuous mooring observation from autumn to winter of fiscal year 2020 to elucidate the mechanism of red tide development in the inner Ariake Sea, a very turbid shallow coastal water in Japan. The red tide dominated by Skeletonema spp. (mainly Skeletonema dohnii) developed after the annual minimum water temperature during the first neap tide. Two physical environments favorable for phytoplankton proliferation played a trigger role: stabilization of the water column due to net heat flux transition and deepening of the euphotic layer.