Radon traced seasonal variations of water mixing and accompanying nutrient and carbon transport in the Yellow-Bohai Sea

Xiaoxiong Wang, Xiaogang Chen*, Jianan Liu, Fenfen Zhang*, Linwei Li, Jinzhou Du

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

Radon (222Rn) is a natural radioactive tracer widely utilized to evaluate water exchange and mixing processes; however, minimal studies have investigated the 222Rn distribution in the Yellow-Bohai Sea (YBS) and its behavior is poorly understood. In this study, the seasonal distribution of 222Rn in the YBS was investigated. The results found that the 222Rn distribution in surface waters is significantly affected by rivers, while 222Rn activity in bottom waters is highly affected by submarine groundwater discharge. The eddy diffusivity and advection velocities of the YBS were obtained utilizing an improved 1D steady-state 222Rn diffusion-advection model. The average horizontal eddy diffusivities in the wet (August 2015) and dry (November 2014) seasons were 4.54 × 108 and 2.28 × 108 cm2 s−1 in dry season, respectively and the average vertical eddy diffusivity was 4.99 cm2 s−1. The dissolved inorganic nutrient (N, P, and Si) and dissolved inorganic carbon flux outputs from vertical eddy diffusion were determined to be 4.85, 0.29, 3.59, and 61.6 mmol m−2 d−1, respectively. These results demonstrate that eddy diffusion tracing in coastal ocean is conducive to interpreting water mixing processes and can be utilized to understand offshore nutrient and carbon transport better.

Original languageEnglish
Article number147161
JournalScience of the Total Environment
Volume784
DOIs
StatePublished - 25 Aug 2021

Keywords

  • Diffusion coefficient
  • Nutrients and dissolved inorganic carbon
  • Radon
  • Seasonal and spatial variation
  • Water mixing
  • Yellow-Bohai Sea

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