Composition and Distribution of Phytoplankton with Size Fraction Results at Southwestern East/Japan Sea

Abundance and distribution of phytoplankton in seawater at southwestern East/Japan Sea near Gampo were investigated by HPLC analysis of photosynthetic pigments during summer of 1999. Detected photosynthetic pigments were chlorophyll a, b, $c_{1+2}$ (Chl a, Chl b, Chl $c_{1+2}$), fucoxanthin (Fuco), prasinoxanthin (Pras), zeaxanthin (Zea), 19'-butanoyloxyfucoxanthin (But-fuco) and beta-carotene (B-Car). Major carotenoid was fucoxanthin (bacillariophyte) and minor carotenoids were Pras (prasinophyte), Zea (cyanophyte) and But-fuco (chrysophyte). Chl a concentrations were in the range of $0.16-8.3\;{\mu}g/land$ subsurface chlorophyll maxima were observed at 0-10m at inshore and 30-50 m at offshore. Thermocline and nutricline tilted to the offshore direction showed a mild upwelling condition. Results from size-fraction showed that contribution from nano+picoplankton at Chl a maximum layer was increased from 18% at inshore to 69% at offshore on average. The maximum contribution from nano+picoplankton was found as 87% at St. E4. It was noteworthy that contribution from nano+picoplanktonic crysophytes and green algae to total biomass of phytoplankton was significant at offshore. Satellite images of sea surface temperature indicated that an extensive area of the East/Japan Sea showed lower temperature ($<18\;^{\circ}C$) but the enhanced Chi a patch was confined to a narrow coastal region in summer, 1999. Exceptionally high flux of low saline water from the Korea/Tsushima Strait seemed to make upwelling weak in summer of 1999 in the study area. Results of comparisons among Chi a from SeaWiFS, HPLC and fluorometric analysis showed that presence of Chi b cause underestimation of Chi a about 30% by fluorometric analysis but overestimation by satellite data about 30-75% compared to HPLC data.