differential impact of monsoon and large amplitude internal waves on coral reef development in the andaman sea微分的影响季风和大型振幅内波在安达曼海的珊瑚礁发展.pdfVIP

Differential Impact of Monsoon and Large Amplitude Internal Waves on Coral Reef Development in the Andaman Sea 1 1 2 2 1 Marlene Wall *, Gertraud Maria Schmidt , Pornpan Janjang , Somkiat Khokiattiwong , Claudio Richter 1 Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany, 2 Phuket Marine Biological Center, Phuket, Thailand Abstract 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. Citation: Wall M, Schmidt GM, Janjang P, Khokiattiwong S, Richter C (2012) Differential Impact of Monsoon and Large Amplitude Internal Waves on Cor