Characteristics of Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC) in the Western Coast of the Taiwan Strait Using a Shipboard Measurement

An online dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) monitoring system was produced to achieve high spatial and temporal resolution in DIC data from the western Taiwan Strait (WTS) during the summer. Surface seawater DIC, salinity, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), Chl-a, and NO3− samples were collected, as well as the vertical profiles of DIC, to understand DIC variations in the WTS. The results showed that the range of DIC levels in the surface seawater from the WTS was from 1.68 to 2.21 mmol/L (Mmol), with an average of 1.93 ± 0.19 Mmol, which was consistent with the sampling results using titration determination, with an average of 1.98 ± 0.12 Mmol. A high correlation (R2 = 0.96) was presented between the online monitoring and sampling detection of DIC, indicating that DIC could be measured with high accuracy using the online monitoring system. The spatial distribution of DIC was similar to that of salinity, but it was different from that of DOC and Chl-a. The DIC concentration positively correlated with salinity (R2 = 0.51) and presented a negative correlation (R2 = 0.92) with seawater temperature. However, the surface seawater DIC was almost independent from DOC and Chl-a in the observation sea areas. The DIC levels first increased and then decreased with the depth, with the highest DIC concentration occurring in the subsurface water at about 10 m, which was similar to the profiles of salinity and Chl-a in the northern and southern areas of the WTS. The profiles of DIC, salinity, NO3−, and Chl-a were almost independent from the water depth in the central WST. This indicated that seawater DIC in the WTS was mainly affected by seawater temperature, salinity, and the vertical mixing of sea water, but it was less impacted by TOC and Chl-a.