Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany.
PLoS One. 2012;7(11):e50207. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0050207. Epub 2012 Nov 28.
The Andaman Sea and other macrotidal semi-enclosed tropical seas feature large amplitude internal waves (LAIW). Although LAIW induce strong fluctuations i.e. of temperature, pH, and nutrients, their influence on reef development is so far unknown. A better-known source of disturbance is the monsoon affecting corals due to turbulent mixing and sedimentation. Because in the Andaman Sea both, LAIW and monsoon, act from the same westerly direction their relative contribution to reef development is difficult to discern. Here, we explore the framework development in a number of offshore island locations subjected to differential LAIW- and SW-monsoon impact to address this open question. Cumulative negative temperature anomalies - a proxy for LAIW impact - explained a higher percentage of the variability in coral reef framework height, than sedimentation rates which resulted mainly from the monsoon. Temperature anomalies and sediment grain size provided the best correlation with framework height suggesting that so far neglected subsurface processes (LAIW) play a significant role in shaping coral reefs.
安达曼海和其他大潮半封闭热带海域的特点是存在大振幅内波（LAIW）。尽管 LAIW 会引起温度、pH 值和养分的强烈波动，但它们对珊瑚礁发育的影响目前尚不清楚。更著名的干扰源是季风，由于其湍流混合和沉积作用会影响珊瑚。由于在安达曼海，LAIW 和季风都从相同的西风方向作用，因此很难区分它们对珊瑚礁发育的相对贡献。在这里，我们探索了一些位于近海岛屿的框架发展，这些岛屿受到 LAIW 和 SW 季风的不同影响，以解决这个悬而未决的问题。累积负温度异常（LAIW 影响的代表）解释了珊瑚礁框架高度变化的更高比例，而沉降率主要来自季风。温度异常和沉积物粒径与框架高度的相关性最好，这表明迄今为止被忽视的地下过程（LAIW）在塑造珊瑚礁方面发挥了重要作用。
