Surface chlorophyll-a dynamics in the upper Gulf of Thailand revealed by a coupled hydrodynamic-ecosystem model

Although plankton bloom incidents in the upper Gulf of Thailand (UGoT) have been reported, no dynamic investigation of the phenomenon has been conducted. To address this need, a simple pelagic ecosystem model coupled with the Princeton Ocean Model (POM) was employed to investigate seasonal variations in surface chlorophyll-a (chl-a) distributions to clarify phytoplankton dynamics in this area. The results revealed patterns of seasonal chl-a distribution that correspond to local wind, water movement and river discharge. High chl-a patchiness was found to be concentrated near the western coast following westward circulation near the northern coast developed during the northeast monsoon. During the southwest monsoon high concentrations were observed around the northeastern coast due to eastward flow. The simulated results could explain the seasonal shifting of phytoplankton blooms, which typically arise along the western and eastern coasts during the northeast and the southwest monsoons, respectively. Sensitivity analyses of simulated chl-a distributions demonstrate that water stability, including wind-induced vertical currents and mixing, plays significant roles in controlling phytoplankton growth. Nutrients in the water column will not stimulate strong plankton blooms unless upwelling develops or vertical diffusivity is low. This finding suggests an alternative aspect of the mechanism of phytoplankton bloom in this region.     

Seasonal Variation of Stratification in the Gulf of Thailand

Intensive hydrographic observations were carried out in the western part of the Gulf of Thailand and the east coastal sea of Peninsular Malaysia in September 1995 and April–May 1996. The characteristics of seasonal variation of oceanic condition in that area are discussed basis of an analysis of observed water temperature, salinity and density distributions in these cruises and NAGA cruises (Yanagi and Takao, 1998a). Stratification is most developed in March–May mainly due to large sea surface heating and weak sea surface wind, which weakened until September–October, vanishing in December–January. The horizontal distribution of bottom cold, saline and heavy water masses, which are found during the stratified season, is governed by the tidal mixing and the water depth. Water exchange between the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea becomes large in March–May due to a coupled effect of the intensified estuarine circulation and the Ekman transport by the southwest monsoon. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Hypoxia in the Upper Gulf of Thailand: Hydrographic observations and modeling

We conducted hydrographic observations throughout the year to investigate seasonal variations of the hypoxic water mass distribution in the Upper Gulf of Thailand (UGoT). Hypoxic water masses were observed from June to November, with half of the UGoT occupied by hypoxic water in September. A hypoxic water mass appeared in the northeastern part of the UGoT in June and August, and moved westward over time. Low-salinity surface water moved from east to west as the rotational direction of surface circulation shifted with the reversal of monsoon winds. Westward movement of low-salinity water causes strong stratification in the northwestern part of the UGoT, leading to severe hypoxia. Numerical experiments showed high dissolved oxygen consumption rates around and offshore of river mouths, where hypoxic water is generated. This finding suggests that hypoxic water masses are transported to the south by physical processes. We examined how flooding affects hypoxic water mass formation. The volume of hypoxia in a flood year was approximately 2.5 times greater than in a normal year. In addition, hypoxia occurred in the dry season and extensive hypoxia was observed in the year after flooding. These results suggest that the hypoxic water mass persists for a long time after flooding.

     

Clockwise phase propagation of semi-diurnal tides in the Gulf of Thailand

The phase of semi-diurnal tides (M₂ and S₂) propagates clockwise in the central part of the Gulf of Thailand, although that of the diurnal tides (K₁, O₁ and P₁) is counterclock-wise. The mechanism of clockwise phase propagation of semi-diurnal tides at the Gulf of Thailand in the northern hemisphere is examined using a simple numerical model. The natural oscillation period of the whole Gulf of Thailand is near the semi-diurnal period and the direction of its phase propagation is clockwise, mainly due to the propagation direction of the large amplitude part of the incoming semi-diurnal tidal wave from the South China Sea. A simplified basin model with bottom slope and Coriolis force well reproduces the co-tidal and co-range charts of M₂ tide in the Gulf of Thailand.     

Trends in Tidal Levels and Mean Sea Level in the Gulf of Thailand

Ocean Science Journal - Astronomical tides have a major impact on coastal sediment distribution, seawater levels, coastal navigation, and other coastal dynamics. Any significant change to tides...     

Clay mineral distribution in sediments of the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea

The 25 sediment samples collected from the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea were analyzed for clay mineral investigation. Results showed the presence of 35% montmorillonite, 13% chlorite, 30% illite, and 22% kaolinite in sediments of the Gulf and also 16% montmorillonite, 21% chlorite, 41% illite, and 22% kaolinite in sediments of the South China Sea. The relatively high concentration of montmorillonite in sediments of the Gulf as compared with that in sediments of the South China Sea may suggest that montmorillonite in these area has been largely derived from soil formation of the bordering land areas of the Gulf, particularly from the northern part of Malay Peninsula. On the contrary, the content of illite in sediments of the South China Sea is higher than that in the Gulf. This mineral appears to have been supplied from Borneo as well as the Mekong Delta. However, chlorite which shows a similar distribution to that of illite in sediments of the Gulf and the South China Sea has not indicated Borneo Isl. as a principal source area for chlorite. Greater resemblance in amount of kaolinite in both sediments of the Gulf and the South China Sea is due to the prevailing distribution of kaolinite as low latitude clay mineral on the bordering land areas. The distribution of clay minerals in sediments of the study area appears to be closely related to the soil formation and geology of the adjacent land areas.This work was carried out at Geological and Mineralogical Institute, Tokyo University of Education.     

Community involvement in fisheries management: Experiences in the Gulf of Thailand countries

This paper examines the involvement of coastal communities in fisheries management among the countries of the Gulf of Thailand—Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. Initiatives to decentralize management to local governing bodies, to utilize traditional management methods and to engage in community agreements to protect local resources are explored. An examination of recent experiences indicates some movement toward more local involvement in management. However, the study also leads to several suggestions for the future: in Vietnam and Cambodia, there is a need for significant legislation to control fisheries operations and greater clarity of the role of communities in management; in Malaysia, there is an overall need for more support to local fisheries management; and in Thailand, the need is for greater support of local-level enforcement and monitoring activities.     

南海海啸在泰国湾海域的共振响应

马尼拉海沟具备引发地震海啸的条件,是南中国海主要的潜在海啸发生区。南中国海西南部泰国湾海域和纳土纳海域地形复杂、多独立的半封闭水域,海啸波极易在该区域形成水波共振,加剧其灾害影响。采用COMCOT海啸模型模拟了马尼拉海沟断裂带发生9.3级地震时引发海啸的长时间传播过程,并基于水波共振理论分析其在不同尺度下的共振特性。结果表明,海啸波在曼谷湾至邦加—勿里洞岛间引起了明显的纵向第一、二模态(3 360.0 min、1 440.0 min)水波共振,在泰国湾至邦加—勿里洞岛之间引起了明显的纵向第二、三、四模态(775.4 min、560.0 min、373.3 min)共振,而在泰国湾至印度尼西亚沿岸引起了明显的纵向第二、三、五、七模态(1 008.0 min、630.0 min、373.3 min、252.0 min)水波共振。此外,海啸波不仅在泰国湾引起了明显的纵向第一、三、四模态(560. 0 min、252. 0 min、179. 4 min)共振,还在其横向出现了明显的第一、二、三模态(480.0 min、252.0 min、179.4 min)共振。     

Trace metal composition of and accumulation rates of sediments in the Upper Gulf of Thailand

Sediment cores and grab samples were collected in the Upper Gulf of Thailand to determine sedimentation rates and to determine if metal concentrations reflect anthropogenic inputs.Accumulation rates of sediments in the Upper Gulf measured using the ²¹⁰Pb method, appear to vary from ca. 4 to 11 mm yr^?1. Sediment budgets suggest that little of the sediment delivered to the Upper Gulf by the major rivers is ultimately transported to the Lower Gulf. Metal concentrations in Upper Gulf sediments appear to be dominantly controlled by natural inputs.     

中国海和泰国湾海域海平面的经向涛动

卫星高度计遥感海面高度距平资料(1992-2012年)的分析结果证实中国海(渤、黄、东海及南海)和泰国湾作为一个半封闭的狭长水域,其海平面存在显著的南北经向涛动。涛动呈现明显的季节性,冬季南高北低,夏季北高南低,以渤海和泰国湾的海平面高差作为涛动的测度,其多年平均波动幅度达63 cm,较差超过80 cm。时间序列分析显示,在季节尺度上这一涛动几乎完全受东亚季风的支配,表明东亚季风的局地强迫是造成季节涛动的主要原因。进一步的分析发现,除季节波动之外研究海域海平面的经向涛动还存在明显的年际变化。不过,与季节尺度的波动有所不同,经向涛动的年际变化不仅是东亚季风区局地作用的结果,而且与太平洋海盆尺度的大气强迫有关,其作用与季风在同一数量级。涛动的年际变化大致滞后各气候因子两个月。采用多输入线性模型做偏相关分析筛选的结果显示,除东亚季风指数之外,研究海域的海平面涛动指数主要与太平洋的南方涛动指数(SOI)和西太平洋遥相关指数(WP)相关。这表明外部强迫既来自热带,也来自中纬度。南方涛动所导致的赤道海域海平面的东西向年际涛动,以及中纬度西风急流年际波动对西北太平洋海平面的作用,都有可能导致研究海域海平面经向涛动的年际变化,其机制有待进一步探讨。     

泰国湾西部表层沉积物自生矿物分布及组成

Generation, morphology, and distribution of authigenic minerals directly reflect sedimentary environment and material sources. Surface sediments were collected from the western Gulf of Thailand during 2011–2012, and 159 samples were analyzed to determine detrital minerals. Authigenic minerals, including siderite, pyrite, and glauconite, are abundant whereas secondary minerals, such as chlorite and limonite, are distributed widely in the study area. Siderite has a maximum content of 19.98 g/kg and appears in three types from nearshore to continental shelf, showing the process of forming-maturity-oxidation. In this process, the Mn O content in siderite decreases, but Fe_2O_3 and Mg O content increase. Colorless or transparent siderite pellets are fresh grains generated within a short time and widely distributed throughout the region; high content appears in coastal area where river inputs are discharged. Translucent cemented double pellets appearing light yellow to red are mature grains; high content is observed in the central shelf. Red-brown opaque granular pellets are oxidized grains,which are concentrated in the eastern gulf. Pyrite is mostly distributed in the central continental shelf with an approximately north–south strip. Pyrite are mainly observed in foraminifera shell and distributed in clayey silt sediments, which is similar to that in the Yangtze River mouth and the Yellow Sea. The pyrite in the gulf is deduced from genetic types associated with sulfate reduction and organic matter decomposition. Majority of glauconite are granular with few laminar. Glauconite is concentrated in the northern and southern parts within the boundary of 9.5° to 10.5°N and is affected by river input diffusion. The distribution of glauconite is closely correlated with that of chlorite and plagioclase, indicating that glauconite is possibly derived from altered products of chlorite and plagioclase. The K_2O content of glauconite is low or absent, indicating its short formation time.     

全新世以来泰国湾古气候演化历史———来自地球化学和矿物学证据

为了对海表温度(SeaSurfaceTemperature,SST)和海表盐度(SeaSurfaceSalinity,SSS)数据进行精确的短期预报,基于多站位海洋观测浮标获取的海表温度和海表盐度数据,利用反向传播(BackPropagation,BP)和径向基函数(RadialBasisFunction,RBF)两种神经网络方法开展了短期预测。首先,在预测时长固定为5d的情况下,对比不同训练时长的预测结果的均方误差(MeanSquaredError,MSE),进而确定以20d的观测数据作为训练集的预测结果均方误差最小。然后,以 PAPA 站观测浮标获取的2009年1月、4月、7月和10月各月的前20d温盐数据作为训练集,分别训练BP和 RBF神经网络,将训练好的2种神经网络模型应用于各月第21至25日的温盐数据预测。结果表明:BP和 RBF神经网络均能有效预测海表温盐数据的季节性变化,但 RBF神经网络对不同预测时间的整体预测效果优于 BP神经网络。多站点数据的预测实验进一步验证了 RBF神经网络模型具有较强适用性和更高的准确性。RBF神经网络模型可以作为海表温盐数据短期预报的有力工具。     

泰国湾及邻近海域潮汐潮流的数值模拟

本文基于FVCOM(Finite-Volume Coastal Ocean Model)模式,模拟了泰国湾及其周边海域K1、O1、M2和S2四个主要分潮。采用47个验潮站实测调和常数与模拟结果进行比较,所得4个分潮的均方差分别为4.06cm、3.76cm、8.22cm和4.71cm,符合良好。根据计算结果分析了泰国湾及其周边海域的潮汐、潮流的分布特征和潮波的传播特征。数值试验表明,现有的数字水深资料(ETOPO1,ETOPO5,DBDB-V)的准确度不足以合理地模拟泰国湾潮波。     

Summer hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico and its prediction from 1978 to 1995

An 18-year monitoring record (1978-1995) of dissolved oxygen within a region having hypoxia (dissolved oxygen less than 2 mgl(-1)) in the bottom layer was examined to describe seasonal and annual trends. The monitoring location was near or within a well-described summer hypoxic zone whose size has been up to 20,000 km(2). The monitoring data were used to hindcast the size of the hypoxic zone for before consistent shelfwide surveys started, and to predict it for 1989, when a complete shelfwide survey was not made. The concentration of total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) in surface waters and concentration of bottom water oxygen were directly related, as anticipated if organic loading from surface to bottom was from in situ processes. The TKN data were used to develop a predictive relationship that suggested there was no substantial hypoxia before the 1970s, which was before nitrate flux from the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico began to rise. The peak frequency in monthly hypoxic events is two to three months after both the spring maximum in discharge and nitrate loading of the Mississippi River. These results support the conclusion that persistent, large-sized summer hypoxia is a recently-developed phenomenon that began in the 1970s or early 1980s.     

Ecology of Pinnidae (Mollusca: Bivalvia) from the Gulf of Thailand

The ecology of the family Pinnidae was studied by sampling three pinnid species from 36 sampling sites across four different microhabitats in the Gulf of Thailand. The species spatial distributions were mostly uniform, with some populations having random distributions. Species abundances differed between sandy and coral habitats according to non-metric multi-dimension scaling analyses. Although the Gulf of Thailand is a relatively small geographic area, habitats are varied enough to provide variable shell densities. Small islands are important distribution areas, and coral reefs provide both direct and indirect shelter which support high abundances, densities and increased shell size. The highest density was recorded in sand beds within coral reefs. Low density and small shell size in sand beaches might be related to high mortality in shallow water or to adaptations for survival in shallow waters. A clear correlation between sediment composition and species abundance was found in Pinna atropurpurea; abundance increased with the sand content of the sediment. For P. deltodes, abundance increased as the rock fraction of the sediment increased. These results suggest that adaptations in Pinnidae, such as shell size, shell morphology, and the exposure of the shell above the sediment-water interface, are responses for survival in different habitats.     

1988—2016年泰国湾海岸线变迁遥感分析

泰国湾近30年海岸线变迁剧烈。文章基于1988年、1996年、2006年和 2016年4个时期Landsat TM/OLI中等分辨率卫星遥感影像数据,开展了近30年泰国湾岸线长度时空变迁遥感监测,并应用数字海岸分析系统（DSAS）计算出4期岸线变迁速率,给出了4个时期泰国湾侵蚀淤积面积状况,分析了岸线变迁的自然因素和人类活动因素。并从岸线增长速率、岸线变迁速率、蚀淤面积状况、岸线类型变化4个方面给出结论。     

Monitoring of coral communities in the inner Gulf of Thailand influenced by the elevated seawater temperature and flooding

There were two severe coral bleaching events at Ko Khang Khao, the inner Gulf of Thailand, occurred during the prolonged period of the elevated sea surface temperature (SST) in 2010 and low salinity as well as turbidity due to heavy flooding in 2011. The bleaching index (BI) and mortality index (MI) are calculated to compare the susceptibilities of coral species in the two bleaching events. The BI and MI vary significantly among the study sites and bleaching events. The most susceptible corals during both bleaching events are Acropora millepora, Pocillopora damicornis and Pavona decussate, while the most resistant species were Galaxea fascicularis, Fungia fungites, Pavona frondifera, Oulastrea crispate, and Symphyllia recta. The corals Favia favus, Goniopora columna, Platygyra pini, Symphyllia agaricia were relatively more tolerant to high SST but they are relatively more susceptible to low salinity. Coral bleaching is a phenomenon that the dissociation stress of the symbiotic relationship between zooxanthellae and their cnidarian host results in the reduction in photosynthetic pigment concentration. Among stressors, both prolonged exposure of high SST and low salinity, above and below their thresholds, respectively. The long-term resilience of coral communities at Ko Khang Khao and other coral communities close to the mouth of large rivers may depend on the frequency and duration of the exposure on the elevated SST due to atmospheric heating and low salinity due to river flooding.     

Possible impact of dam reservoirs and river diversions on material fluxes to the Gulf of Thailand

Thai people have always been agricultural-based, although rainwater is not enough to sustain year-round agricultural practice. The first earth-filled dam was built across a valley near Sukhothai over 700 years ago. Now, there are six major multipurposed dam reservoirs, among which the largest is the Sri Nakarind (SN) built across the Kwae Yai River, the main branch of the Mae Klong River in the western part of Thailand. The first multipurposed dam reservoir built on the Chao Phraya (largest) River System is the Bhumibhol Dam on the Ping River. In this paper, the two Mae Klong River Dam Reservoirs and their biology and chemistry are discussed. Also investigated are the historical records of material fluxes to the Gulf of Thailand in down-core sediment profiles and in 40-year bands of coral, Porites lutea, taken from the Upper Gulf of Thailand near Si Chang Island. Sediment cores studied did not show clear decreases in the biogenic silica concentration in the Upper Gulf area after the building of dams. Part of the reasons might be the higher rate of dissolution of silica in tropical waters bioturbation of surface layers or the constant disturbance of the bottom sediment by fishermen using bottom trawls. The record in the coral bands seems to be more promising in reflecting the material flux change due to dam construction. An attempt to detect changes in diatom population with time due to the expected decrease in siliceous material discharge was not possible because there was a change from the use of 70 μm mesh size to 20 μm mesh size resulting in the increase of species and biomass, although the diatom percentage remained above 80% in all estuarine samples.     

Causes of the bottom hypoxia in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland in the baltic sea

The data on the bottom concentrations of dissolved oxygen in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland obtained in 1923–1939 and in 1962–1989 were analyzed. No statistically reliable differences were found between the two periods studied. It was found that, during the 20th century, the fluctuations in the oxygen concentration were caused by the interannual variability of the winter severity and water salinity. A strong oxygen deficit in the summer was recorded after cold winters, when early freezing suppressed the vertical mixing, and/or in the years of a significant inflow of salt waters from the Baltic Sea with low oxygen contents. It is likely that the long-term dynamics of the oxygen concentration near the bottom in the open parts of the bay is determined by the large-scale variability of the hydrometeorological parameters.