ISSN:
1572-977X
Keywords:
dissolved organic carbon
;
flux
;
mangrove creek
;
nutrients
;
particulate organic carbon
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
Notes:
Abstract In Coral and Conn Creek, northeastern Australia, the variations in concentrations of nitrate, phosphate, silicate, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and particulate organic carbon (POC) were measured over tidal cycles on five occasions and along each creek on four occasions. The fluxes of these five properties were then estimated using two methods. The first method is the so‐called Eulerian method, whereby water flow and material concentration are measured at a fixed station near the creek mouth and the net flux is calculated by adding up flux increments over a tidal cycle. The second method first derives the longitudinal eddy diffusion coefficient from the salt mass balance equation and then calculates material fluxes from their observed gradients along the creek. The use of the latter method is permitted only in the absence of freshwater inputs. The Eulerian method was not sensitive enough to examine whether there was any statistically significant difference in fluxes of nutrients, DOC and POC between ebb and flood periods. This casts some doubt over the meaning of individual flux estimates. It is, however, worth mentioning that 17 out of 25 flux estimates were positive (= import) in Coral Creek, whereas only eight positive flux estimates occurred in Conn Creek. In Coral Creek, the average flux values for nitrate, phosphate and DOC were positive, but negative for silicate and POC. In contrast, the average flux values for all properties were negative in Conn Creek. This may be due to the difference in amount of freshwater input between Coral and Conn Creek. The presence of freshwater inputs from upstream sources restricted the use of the salt mass balance equation to the Coral Creek data collected in September, 1996. However, the study of the variability of nutrient, DOC and POC concentrations along the creek could provide valuable insight into their behavior in Coral and Conn Creek. For example, the concentrations of silicate and DOC were consistently higher upstream than downstream and the distance–concentration relationship was statistically significant in seven out of eight measurements. The concentrations of nitrate and POC also decreased from upstream to downstream, but the trend was statistically significant in only 2–3 measurements. The concentration of phosphate was higher downstream than upstream in four measurements and in two of these four measurements, the trend was statistically significant. These results suggest that in Coral and Conn Creek, silicate and DOC are usually exported to adjacent coastal waters, whereas the import and export of nitrate, phosphate and POC are often finely balanced.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1009923410116
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