On the Intra-annual Variation of Dissolved Oxygen Dynamics and Hypoxia Development in the Pearl River Estuary

Located in the northern South China Sea, the Pearl River Estuary (PRE) is one of the most important estuaries in China and is surrounded by several megacities. Hypoxia mainly occurs in the bottom waters of the PRE during summer and is more prominent near the Humen outlet and the subestuary outside Modaomen and Jitimen. A well-validated three-dimensional (3-D) coupled physical-biogeochemical model was used to explore the changes in dissolved oxygen (DO) dynamics and hypoxic conditions in the PRE over an intra-annual cycle and elucidate the processes controlling the generation, development, and dissipation of hypoxia. In summer, oxygen consumption due to the high-intensity sediment oxygen demand (SOD) intensified by large inputs of riverine particulate organic carbon (POC) exceeded the DO supplemented by vertical diffusion (largely inhibited by strong fresh water–induced stratification), thus leading to a significant decrease in DO in the bottom waters; in other seasons, these DO source and sink terms were nearly balanced so that the bottom DO concentrations were maintained at higher levels. Moreover, the lag analysis shows that there is an approximately 2-month lag between riverine POC and SOD. By comparison, the low-oxygen area near Humen has a controlling mechanism distinct from that of the subestuary outside Modaomen and Jitimen. Specifically, the timely and sufficient oxygen supplement brought by vertical diffusion can replenish the bottom DO consumed by SOD in this region, and the formation and development of low-oxygen conditions (DO ≤ 4 mg L−1) is mainly affected by riverine low-oxygen inflows. In summary, our study clarified that the terrestrial organic pollutant input and low-oxygen water from the upper reaches have an important impact on the DO in different areas of the PRE, especially the low-oxygen area near Humen, which is controlled by the water quality of the upper reaches. This conclusion is of great significance for regional environmental management.