Estimating nutrient budgets in tropical estuaries subject to episodic flows

Most Australian estuaries are subject to riverine discharge regimes that are highly episodic. This characteristic poses difficulties for estimating nutrient budgets of such systems based on sampling regimes that do not resolve the discharge variation and the changes in nutrient distributions that th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine pollution bulletin 2005-01, Vol.51 (1), p.165-173
Main Authors: Webster, Ian T., Ford, Phillip W., Tillman, Pei
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Australia
Brackish
Budget
Ecosystem
Episodic
Estuary
Flux
Forecasting
Models, Theoretical
Nitrogen - analysis
Nutrients
Phosphorus - analysis
Tropical Climate
Water - chemistry
Water Movements
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Summary:Most Australian estuaries are subject to riverine discharge regimes that are highly episodic. This characteristic poses difficulties for estimating nutrient budgets of such systems based on sampling regimes that do not resolve the discharge variation and the changes in nutrient distributions that they cause. This paper presents a method for calculating nutrient budgets in estuaries having episodic hydrology. The method utilises a simple hydrodynamic transport model that is calibrated using measured salinities and which is used to describe the transport properties of the estuary as they respond to river discharge. Using this transport model, the temporal variation in nutrient concentrations within the estuary can be resolved between sampling surveys even when the discharge events are of short duration. An inverse method is then applied to calculate internal fluxes of nutrients from measurements obtained on successive sampling surveys. The approach is demonstrated through an application to the Fitzroy Estuary in Queensland, Australia.
ISSN:0025-326X
1879-3363
DOI:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2004.10.027