Destruction and reinstatement of coastal hypoxia in the South China Sea off the Pearl River estuary

Abstract

We examined the evolution of intermittent hypoxia off the Pearl River estuary based on three cruise legs conducted in July 2018: one during severe hypoxic conditions before the passage of a typhoon and two post-typhoon legs showing destruction of the hypoxia and its reinstatement. The lowest ever recorded regional dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration of 3.5 μmol kg-1 (∼0.1 mg L-1) was observed in bottom waters during leg 1, with an ∼660 km2 area experiencing hypoxic conditions (DO<63 μmol kg-1). Hypoxia was completely destroyed by the typhoon passage but was quickly restored ∼6 d later, resulting primarily from high biochemical oxygen consumption in bottom waters that averaged 14.6±4.8 μmolO2 kg-1 d-1. The shoreward intrusion of offshore subsurface waters contributed to an additional 8.6±1.7% of oxygen loss during the reinstatement of hypoxia. Freshwater inputs suppressed wind-driven turbulent mixing, stabilizing the water column and facilitating the hypoxia formation. The rapid reinstatement of summer hypoxia has a shorter timescale than the water residence time, which is however comparable with that of its initial disturbance from frequent tropical cyclones that occur throughout the wet season. This has important implications for better understanding the intermittent nature of hypoxia and predicting coastal hypoxia in a changing climate.