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Linkages between coastal runoff and the Florida Keys ecosystem: A study of a dark plume event
Author(s) -
Hu Chuanmin,
MullerKarger Frank E.,
Vargo Gabriel A.,
Neely Merrie Beth,
Johns Elizabeth
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2004gl020382
Subject(s) - colored dissolved organic matter , seawifs , bloom , plume , environmental science , oceanography , algal bloom , phytoplankton , surface runoff , ocean color , nutrient , chlorophyll a , upwelling , ecosystem , hydrology (agriculture) , satellite , geology , ecology , meteorology , geography , biology , geotechnical engineering , aerospace engineering , engineering , botany
Using data collected by satellite sensors, rain and river gauges, and ship surveys, we studied the development and wind‐driven transport of a dark water plume from near Charlotte Harbor, Florida, to the Dry Tortugas in the Florida Keys in mid‐October 2003. MODIS and SeaWiFS imagery showed that the patch contained an extensive (∼5,500 km 2 ) phytoplankton bloom that formed originally near the central coast of Florida. The data linked the bloom to high nutrient coastal runoff caused by heavy rainfall in June and August. Total N and P required for the bloom, which may contain some Karenia brevis cells, was estimated to be 2.3 × 10 7 and 1.5 × 10 6 moles, respectively. The dark color became increasingly dominated by colored dissolved organic matter, toward the Dry Tortugas, where CDOM absorption coefficients (0.08–0.12 m −1 at 400 nm) were 2–3 times higher than the surrounding shelf waters, while chlorophyll and inorganic nutrients decreased to negligible levels.