Elevated primary productivity triggered by mixing in the quasi-cul-de-sac Taiwan Strait during the NE monsoon

The Taiwan Strait (TS) connects two of the largest marginal seas in the world, namely the East China Sea (ECS) and the South China Sea (SCS). When the NE monsoon prevails, the fresh, nutrient-rich but P-limited China Coastal Current (CCC) flows southward. Yet, part of the CCC turns eastward after entering the TS and then turns back toward the ECS. In the southern TS, part of the salty, N-limited, northward TS current (TSC) in the eastern part of the strait turns westward and eventually returns to the SCS. That is, the TS acts like a quasi-cul-de-sac during the NE monsoon season. Based on 822 samples from 28 cruises, the highest Chl. a concentration occurs at a salinity around 32 even though the nutrient concentration is not the highest. Mixing the cold-fresh-eutrophic CCC water and the warm-salty-oligotrophic TSC water results in a more suitable condition for biological uptake in both the southern ECS and the northern SCS.