Training Department, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center
Abstract
Water column conditions in terms of vertical well mixing and stratification are important to phases of physical and biochemical environments such as vertical material exchanges and primary productivity of phytoplankton. Water stratification plays as a barrier to nutrient mixing between surface and subsurface waters. Primary productivity in such area is then limited by nutrient availability. In contrast, the stratification in a high eutrophic area can generate hypoxia or anoxia in near bottom water due to organic material decomposition. The objective of this study is to investigate the seasonal variations of water column stratification in the Gulf of Thailand (GoT) from the distributions of temperature and salinity profiles. Other controlling factors such as surface heat flux, freshwater discharge, rainfall, tidal and wind stirrings were also included in this study
