State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
PLoS One. 2013;8(2):e57656. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0057656. Epub 2013 Feb 27.
A long-term record of Asian dust storms showed seven high-occurrence-frequency centers in China. The intrusion of Asian dust into the downwind seas, including the China seas, the Sea of Japan, the subarctic North Pacific, the North Pacific subtropical gyre, and the western and eastern Equatorial Pacific, has been shown to add nutrients to ocean ecosystems and enhance their biological activities. To explore the relationship between the transported dust from various sources to the six seas and oceanic biological activities with different nutrient conditions, the correlation between monthly chlorophyll a concentration in each sea and monthly dust storm occurrence frequencies reaching the sea during 1997-2007 was examined in this study. No correlations were observed between dust and chlorophyll a concentration in the <50 m China seas because atmospheric deposition is commonly believed to exert less impact on coastal seas. Significant correlations existed between dust sources and many sea areas, suggesting a link between dust and chlorophyll a concentration in those seas. However, the correlation coefficients were highly variable. In general, the correlation coefficients (0.54-0.63) for the Sea of Japan were highest, except for that between the subarctic Pacific and the Taklimakan Desert, where it was as high as 0.7. For the >50 m China seas and the North Pacific subtropical gyre, the correlation coefficients were in the range 0.32-0.57. The correlation coefficients for the western and eastern Equatorial Pacific were relatively low (<0.36). These correlation coefficients were further interpreted in terms of the geographical distributions of dust sources, the transport pathways, the dust deposition, the nutrient conditions of oceans, and the probability of dust storms reaching the seas.
长期的亚洲沙尘记录显示，中国有七个高发生频率中心。亚洲沙尘侵入下风海域，包括中国海、日本海、北亚北极、北太平洋副热带环流、西赤道太平洋和东赤道太平洋，已被证明为海洋生态系统增加了营养物质，增强了它们的生物活性。为了探讨来自不同源地的输送粉尘与具有不同营养条件的海洋生物活动之间的关系，本研究考察了 1997-2007 年期间，每个海域每月叶绿素 a 浓度与到达该海域的每月沙尘风暴发生频率之间的相关性。由于大气沉积通常被认为对沿海海域的影响较小，因此，在 <50 m 的中国海域，粉尘与叶绿素 a 浓度之间没有相关性。在粉尘源与许多海域之间存在显著相关性，表明粉尘与这些海域的叶绿素 a 浓度之间存在联系。然而，相关系数变化很大。一般来说，日本海的相关系数（0.54-0.63）最高，除了亚北极太平洋和塔克拉玛干沙漠之间的相关系数高达 0.7 外。对于>50 m 的中国海域和北太平洋副热带环流，相关系数在 0.32-0.57 之间。西赤道太平洋和东赤道太平洋的相关系数相对较低（<0.36）。这些相关系数是根据粉尘源的地理分布、传输路径、粉尘沉积、海洋营养状况以及沙尘到达海域的概率来进一步解释的。
