Distribution Features Of Suspended Matter And Implications For Environment In Summer And Autumn At Typical Transects In The Yellow Sea

Hydrology and suspended matter data of six representative sections in the YellowSea, which were obtained in summer and autumn were used to study the distributionfeatures of temperature, salinity, turbidity and chlorophyll, analyze the distributionand transport of suspended particle matter (SPM) in different seasons, discuss theimpacts on the relevant elements of suspended particle matter caused by plankton,Yellow Sea Warm Current (YSWC) and Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass (YSCWM).The major conclusions are as follows.It was found that both geographical location and ocean circulation influence thedistribution characteristics. In autumn，the waters deeper than fifty meters areinfluenced most by YSWC. Thermocline only exists in the sea areas which are deeperthan40m. In summer, YSCWM covers the most area of Yellow Sea,33.5°N tosouthernmost and122°E to westernmost. It is earlier in the North Yellow Sea thanSouth Yellow to form a stable cold water mass center. The temperature in the coldcenter is below5℃. Yangtze Diluted Water (YDW) expands to the north-east, andcan reach to124.5°E as furthest.The cross-sections of B,36°N,35°N and CJ are significantly influenced byYellow Sea Coastal Current (YSCC). In the coast of Shandong Peninsula and thecentral part of CJ section, areas with high suspended sand concentration come intobeing. The concentration of SPM taken along by YSCC could increase5-8timesbecause of the abouchement of the Northern Jiangsu Shoal waters. That was observedin the central part of CJ section. The mean grain size of suspended particle in summer is larger than which is inautumn. Compared with the coastal water, suspended particle matter of deep sea wateralways has a coarse size. The finest particle appeared in the bottom water layer of thecentral Yellow Sea. The combined action of provenance, biology, re-suspension andflocculation results in the distribution pattern of mean particle size.The development and perished process of Yellow Sea Cold Mass (YSCM) has asignificant impact on the suspended matter distribution features. The temperature andsalinity frontal zone impedes the water exchange between the cold water and outside,and restricts the transport of suspended matter from offshore to the sea. Meanwhile,thermocline could impose restrictions on the upward transmit of the nutrient in thebottom layer. And phytoplankton maximum layer came to being under thethermocline. As a result, the vertical distribution structure of suspended matter gotchanged.