Myanmar Maritime University

To investigate the response of euphotic zooplankton to habitat diversity in the Bay of Bengal (BOB), mesozooplankton samples and the concurrent physicochemical and chlorophyll-a data were collected at 60 stations in the northeastern Indian Ocean during the Sino-Sri Lanka-Myanmar joint cruise from December 2019 to February 2020. The significant influence of freshwater inputs from the Ayeyawady River and cold-core eddies on habitat diversity and the spatial distribution of mesozooplankton populations was studied. Four distinct mesozooplankton communities were identified. Results demonstrate that the habitat diversity in BOB supported its higher species richness than other tropical open waters. In particular, the nearshore areas of Myanmar exhibited significantly higher mesozooplankton abundance and biomass compared to open waters, underscoring the role of freshwater inputs in enhancing biological productivity and supporting fisheries. Furthermore, mesozooplankton communities at two distinct eddy-influenced stations differed markedly. The station at 5.9°N, 90°E, influenced by a strong, mature cold-core eddy, showed higher abundance and biomass, whereas the station at 5.5°N, 84°E, influenced by a weaker cold-core eddy, displayed a greater proportion of deep-water species. These findings elucidate the high spatial variability of mesozooplankton communities in the northeastern Indian Ocean during the winter monsoon, calling for further studies across different seasons and depths to fully understand the interactions between planktonic ecosystems and habitat diversity.

Preparis Channel is the very important exchange path of energy and materials between the northern Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea (AS). A set of hydrographic measurements, a microstructure profiler, and a deep mooring were used to determine the characteristics of water masses, turbulent mixing, and flows in the Preparis Channel. The unprecedented short-term mooring data reveal that a deep current in the deep narrow passage (below 400 m) of the Preparis Channel flows toward the Bay of Bengal (BoB) with a mean along-stream velocity of 25.26 cm/s at depth of 540 m; above the deep current, there are a relatively weak current flows toward the AS with a mean along-stream velocity of 15.46 cm/s between 500 m and 520 m, and another weak current flows toward the BoB between 430 m and 500 m. Thus, a sandwiched vertical structure of deep currents (below 400 m) is present in the Preparis Channel. The volume transport below 400 m is 0.06 Sv (1 Sv = 106 m3/s) from the AS to the BoB. In the upper layer (shallower than 300 m), the sea water of the AS is relatively warmer and fresher than that in the BoB, indicating a strong exchange through the channel. Microstructure profiler observations reveal that the turbulent diffusivity in the upper layer of the Preparis Channel reaches O(10?4 m2/s), one order larger than that in the interior of the BoB and over the continental slope of the northern AS. We speculate that energetic high-mode internal tides in the Preparis Channel contribute to elevated turbulent mixing. In addition, a local "hotspot" of turbidity is identified at the deep mooring site, at depth of about 100 m, which corresponds to the location of elevated turbulent mixing in the Preparis Channel.

The dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the ocean is a large carbon pool that plays an important role in the global carbon cycle. Investigation of the characteristics and behaviors of DOM in some areas facilitates a better understanding of biochemical processes in the water column. In February 2020, water samples were collected to characterize the distribution and optical properties of DOM from the Northern Andaman Sea and the Northeastern Bay of Bengal. A high dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration appeared in the Northern Andaman Sea, which is strongly affected by the DOM contents of the Irrawaddy and Salween Rivers. A barrier layer that resulted from the freshwater input was observed above the thermocline. This layer was believed to have had a consistent effect on the concentration of DOM in the surface water and contributed to the differences in DOC concentration on each side of the Preparis Channel. Based on the fluorescence excitation emission matrix and parallel factor analysis, four fluorescent components were identified, including three humic-like components (C1, C2, and C4 with their maximal Ex/Em at ≤240/418 nm, 315/384 nm, and 270 (360)/442 nm and represented as peaks A, M, and A+C, respectively) and one protein-like component (C3 with maximal Ex/Em at 275/334 nm and represented as peak T). The humic-like components were mainly derived from terrestrial inputs. Low levels of humic-like components were confined in the upper water, with strong photodegradation in the euphotic zone. C3 was a typical tryptophan-like component that represented freshly produced autochthonous DOM. The correlation between C3 and biological index and apparent oxygen utilization suggested that it was highly bioavailable and not easy to be preserved in the deep sea. Overall, our results showed the distributions of DOM in the Northern Andaman Sea and the Northeastern Bay of Bengal and revealed the behaviors and controlling factors for DOM in the upper water.

The northern Andaman Sea off Myanmar is one of the relatively high productive regions in the Indian Ocean.The abundance,biomass and species composition of mesozooplankton and their relationships with environmental variables in the epipelagic zone(～200 m)were studied for the first time during the Sino-Myanmar joint cruise(February 2020).The mean abundance and biomass of mesozooplankton were(1 916.7±1 192.9)ind./m3 and(17.8±7.9)mg/m3,respectively.A total of 213 species(taxa)were identified from all samples.The omnivorous Cyclopoida Oncaea venusta and Oithona spp.were the top two dominant taxa.Three mesozooplankton communities were determined via cluster analysis:the open ocean in the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal(Group A),the transition zone across the Preparis Channel(Group B),and nearshore water off the Ayeyarwady Delta and along the Tanintharyi Coast(Group C).Variation partitioning analysis revealed that the interaction of physical and biological factors explained 98.8%of mesozooplankton community spatial variation,and redundancy analysis revealed that column mean chlorophyll a concentration(CMCHLA)was the most important explanatory variable(43.1%).The abundance and biomass were significantly higher in Group C,the same as CMCHLA and column mean temperature(CMT)and in contrast to salinity,and CMT was the dominant factor.Significant taxon spatial variations were controlled by CMCHLA,salinity and temperature.This study suggested that mesozooplankton spatial variation was mainly regulated by physical processes through their effects on CMCHLA.The physical processes were simultaneously affected by heat loss differences,freshwater influx,eddies and depth.

Submerged breakwaters based on Bragg resonance could be one of the measures used for mitigating marine disasters and coastal erosion in nearshore areas. Here, flume experiments were conducted to investigate the Bragg resonant reflection of waves propagating over porous submerged breakwaters. Furthermore, the influence of permeability, relative width, relative height, and section shapes of submerged breakwaters on Bragg resonant reflection were considered. This revealed that the Bragg resonant reflection coefficient increased with the decrease in permeability and increase in the relative height of submerged breakwaters. However, a slowing trend occurred when the Bragg resonant reflection coefficient peak decreased with the increase in permeability and increased with the increase in relative height. Moreover, the primary peak Bragg resonance increased with the increase in the relative width of submerged breakwaters in the range of 0.1–0.3. This was consistent with the numerical results of Ni and Teng (2021), to a certain extent, as the reflection coefficient first increased and then decreased with the relative bar width. In addition, rectangular submerged breakwaters demonstrated a better reflection effect than the trapezoidal submerged breakwaters, and the triangular submerged breakwaters demonstrated a poor reflection effect.