Publication Date:
2022-05-26
Description:
© The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Reid, E. C., DeCarlo, T. M., Cohen, A. L., Wong, G. T. F., Lentz, S. J., Safaie, A., Hall, A., & Davis, K. A. Internal waves influence the thermal and nutrient environment on a shallow coral reef. Limnology and Oceanography, 64(5), (2019): 1949-1965, doi:10.1002/lno.11162.
Description:
Internal waves can influence water properties in coastal ecosystems through the shoreward transport and mixing of subthermocline water into the nearshore region. In June 2014, a field experiment was conducted at Dongsha Atoll in the northern South China Sea to study the impact of internal waves on a coral reef. Instrumentation included a distributed temperature sensing system, which resolved spatially and temporally continuous temperature measurements over a 4‐km cross‐reef section from the lagoon to 50‐m depth on the fore reef. Our observations show that during summer, internal waves shoaling on the shallow atoll regularly transport cold, nutrient‐rich water shoreward, altering near‐surface water properties on the fore reef. This water is transported shoreward of the reef crest by tides, breaking surface waves and wind‐driven flow, where it significantly alters the water temperature and nutrient concentrations on the reef flat. We find that without internal wave forcing on the fore reef, temperatures on the reef flat could be up to 2.0°C ± 0.2°C warmer. Additionally, we estimate a change in degree heating weeks of 0.7°C‐weeks warmer without internal waves, which significantly increases the probability of a more severe bleaching event occurring at Dongsha Atoll. Furthermore, using nutrient samples collected on the fore reef during the study, we estimated that instantaneous onshore nitrate flux is about four‐fold higher with internal waves than without internal waves. This work highlights the importance of internal waves as a physical mechanism shaping the nearshore environment, and likely supporting resilience of the reef.
Description:
We are grateful for the support of the Dongsha Atoll Research Station and the Dongsha Atoll Marine National Park, whose efforts made this research possible. The authors would also like to thank G. Lohmann from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and L. Hou, F. Shiah, and K. Lee from Academia Sinica for providing logistical and field support. We thank S. Tyler, and J. Selker from the Center for Transformative Environmental Monitoring Programs, funded by the National Science Foundation (EAR awards 1440596 and 1440506), for timely and effective provision of experimental design support, logistical support, and equipment for the project. We thank R. Branch, University of Washington, and X. Pan, Ocean University of China, for their guidance and SST data that informed this study. Support to G. T. F. Wong is from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, grant NSC98‐2611‐M‐001‐004‐MY3 and NSC100‐2611‐M‐001‐001 and from the Academia Sinica through grants titled “Atmospheric Forcing on Ocean Biogeochemistry (AFOBi)” and “Dongsha Ocean Acidification Study (DOcS)”. Support for S. Lentz is from National Science Foundation grant OCE‐1558343. Support for A. Cohen from NSF Grant No. 1220529, by the Academia Sinica (Taiwan) through a thematic project grant to G. Wong and A. Cohen. Support for E. Reid, A. Safaie, and K. A. Davis is from National Science Foundation grant OCE‐1753317, and support to E. Reid from the Environmental Engineering Henry Samueli Endowed Fellowship and the UCI Oceans Graduate Fellowship.
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Article
Permalink
