Michael J. Dagg

Nutrients, irradiance, and mixing as factors regulating primary production in coastal waters impacted by the Mississippi River plume

Relationships among primary production, chlorophyll, nutrients, irradiance and mixing processes were examined along the salinity gradient in the Mississippi River outflow region. A series of six cruises were conducted during 1988–1992 at various times of year and stages of river discharge. Maximum values of biomass and primary production were typically observed at intermediate salinities and coincided with non-conservative decreases in nutrients along the salinity gradient. Highest values of productivity (>10 gC m−2 d−1) and biomass (>30 mg chlorophyll a m−3) were observed in April 1988, July–August 1990 and April–May 1992; values were lower in March and September 1991. Rates of primary production were apparently constrained by low irradiance and mixing in the more turbid, low salinity regions of the plume, and by nutrient limitation outside the plume. Highest values of primary production occurred at stations where surface nutrient concentrations exhibited large deviations from conservative mixing relationships, indicating that depletion of nutrients was related to phytoplankton uptake. Mixing and advection were important in determining the location and magnitude of primary production maxima and nutrient depletion. In addition to growth within plume surface waters, enhanced growth and/or retention of biomass may have occurred in longer residence time waters at the plume edge and/or beneath the surface plume. Vertical structure of some plume stations revealed the presence of subsurface biomass maxima in intermediate salinity water that was depleted in nutrients presumably by uptake processes. Exchange between subsurface water and the surface plume apparently contributed to the reduction in nutrients at intermediate salinities in the surface layer. DIN (=nitrate+nitrite+ammonium) : PO4 (=phosphate) ratios in river water varied seasonally, with high values in winter and spring and low values in late summer and fall. Periods of high DIN : PO4 ratios in river nutrients coincided with cruises when surface nutrient concentrations and their ratios indicated a high probability for P limitation. N limitation was more likely to occur at high salinities and during late summer and fall. Evidence for Si limitation was also found, particularly in spring.

Enhanced Primary Production at the Plume Oceanic Interface of the Mississippi River

Abstract Mechanistic and empirical models were used to examine relationships between primary production and environmental variables along the Mississippi River plume/oceanic gradient off Southwest Pass, Louisiana. A large proportion of variation in primary production could be explained on the basis of light and biomass ( r 2 > 0.857, N > 25). However, comparison of observed chlorophyll concentrations with those predicted using a steady-state light limitation model suggested factors in addition to light availability constrained maximum biomass levels in the plume. Factors which may have contributed to low observed biomass included growth limitation or inhibition by substances not measured, losses due to grazing and sinking, and a short residence time for plume waters, which may have prevented populations from reaching steady state. The dissipative effects associated with plume/oceanic mixing may have been enhanced by potential inhibitory effects of large and varying salinity gradients. Nutrient-salinity distributions, in conjunction with approximate calculations of primary consumption of riverine nutrient sources by phytoplankton, led to the conclusion that biomass and production were controlled by nutrient supply at salinities above 30.

An Organic Carbon Budget for the Mississippi River Turbidity Plume and Plume Contributions to Air-sea CO2 Fluxes and Bottom Water Hypoxia

We investigated seasonal variability in organic carbon (OC) budgets using a physical-biological model for the Mississippi River turbidity plume. Plume volume was calculated from mixed layer depth and area in each of four salinity subregions based on an extensive set of cruise data and satellite-derived suspended sediment distributions. These physical measurements were coupled with an existing food web model to determine seasonally dependent budgets for labile (reactive on time scales of days to weeks) OC in each salinity subregion. Autochthonous gross primary production (GPP) equaled 1.3×1012 g C yr−1 and dominated labile OC inputs (88% of the budget) because riverine OC was assumed mostly refractory (nonreactive). For perspective, riverine OC inputs amounted to 3.9×1012 g C yr−1, such that physical inputs were 3 times greater than biological inputs to the plume. Annually, microbial respiration (R) accounted for 65% of labile OC losses and net metabolism (GPP—R) for the entire plume was, autotrophic, equaling 5.1×1011 g C yr−1. Smaller losses of labile OC occurred via sedimentation (20%), advection (10%), and export to higher trophic levels (5%). In our present model, annual losses of labile OC are 10% higher than inputs, indicating future improvements are required. Application of our model to estimate air-sea carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes indicated the plume was a net sink of 2.0×109 mol CO2 yr−1, of which 90% of the total drawdown was from biotic factors. In all seasons, low salinity waters were a source of CO2 (pCO2=560–890 μatm), and intermediate to high salinity waters were a sink of CO2 (pCO2=200–370 μatm). Our model was also used to calculate O2 demand for the development, of regional hypoxia, and our spring and early summer budgets indicated that sedimentation of autochthonous OC from the immediate plume contributed 23% of the O2 demand necessary for establishment of hypoxia in the region.

A Review of Water Column Processes Influencing Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico

In this review, we use data from field measurements of biogeochemical processes and cycles in the Mississippi River plume and in other shelf regions of the northern Gulf of Mexico to determine plume contributions to coastal hypoxia. We briefly review pertinent findings from these process studies, review recent mechanistic models that synthesize these processes to address hypoxia-related issues, and reinterpret current understanding in the context of these mechanistic models. Some of our conclusions are that both nitrogen and phosphorus are sometimes limiting to phytoplankton growth; respiration is the main fate of fixed carbon in the plume, implying that recycling is the main fate of nitrogen; decreasing the river nitrate loading results in less than a 1:1 decrease in organic matter sinking from the plume; and sedimenting organic matter from the Mississippi River plume can only fuel about 23% of observed coastal hypoxia, suggesting significant contributions from the Atchafalaya River and, possibly, coastal wetlands. We also identify gaps in our knowledge about controls on hypoxia, and indicate that some reinterpretation of our basic assumptions about this system is required. There are clear needs for improved information on the sources, rates, and locations of organic matter sedimentation; for further investigation of internal biogeochemical processes and cycling; for improved understanding of the rates of oxygen diffusion across the pycnocline; for identification and quantification of other sources of organic matter fueling hypoxia or other mechanisms by which Mississippi River derived organic matter fuels hypoxia; and for the development of a fully coupled physical-biogeochemical model.

Picophytoplankton and Bacterioplankton in the Mississippi River Plume and its Adjacent Waters

Picoplankton abundance and distribution in the Mississippi River plume and its adjacent waters were studied during two cruises in April (high discharge) and October (low discharge) 2000 using flow cytometry. Concentrations of photosynthetic picoplankton,Synechococcus and picoeukaryotes were low in the turbid plume water but high in the coastal waters—i.e., the green waters resulting from mixing of river and oceanic waters. In this region, three types ofSynechococcus, characterized by their phycoerythrin chromophore composition, were found:Synechococcus cells with a low phycourobilin to phycoerythrobilin ratio (PUB:PEB) occurred throughout the region and dominated the totalSymechococcus abundance during both seasons; high PUB:PEB cells, which are the dominant strains in the open or blue ocean, occurred only at the outer shelf stations; and PEB-onlySynechococcus were abundant in most of the surveyed area during april, but were not observed during October.Prochlorococcus cyanobacteria only occurred at the oceanic stations, but extended farther inshore in October compared to April. This was a consequence of the reduced discharge and plume size during October. Picophytoplankton were a less important component of total phytoplankton biomass in the turbid river water and more important in the oligotrophic Gulf water. Seasonally, the contribution of picophytoplankton to total phytoplankton biomass in the surveyed area was higher during low discharge in October than during high discharge in April, even though the spring 2000 river discharge was unusually low and might not present a typical high discharge scenario. The abundance of heterotrophic bacteria was weakly correlated to chlorophylla (chla) concentration, but better correlated to picophytoplankton biomass. A higher proportion of High DNA bacteria occurred in the river-impacted regions during both seasons, with the ratio of High DNA bacteria to Low DNA bacteria significantly higher in April.

Concentrations of copepod nauplii associated with the nutrient-rich plume of the Mississippi River

Abstract During spring and summer, discharge plumes of the Mississippi River were located visually by water color. Temperature, salinity, nutrients, chlorophyll a and copepod nauplii were sampled coincidently in a cross-plume direction. Plume waters contained high concentrations of nitrate, silicate and chlorophyll during both spring and summer. Nitrate was depleted before silicate during summer but not during spring. During spring, concentrations of copepod nauplii (50–100 l −1 ) were similar to those reported in an earlier wintertime study in this region. Summertime concentrations of nauplii were much higher, sometimes 1000l −1 . Nauplii were associated with plume waters. Strong seasonality in zooplankton production is suggested, with greatest production in summer. Consequently, a larger proportion of plume phytoplankton production should sink directly to the bottom during spring and a larger proportion of the summertime production should be consumed in the water column by grazers.

Biogeochemical Characteristics of the Lower Mississippi River, USA, During June 2003

During June 2003, a period of mid level discharge (17,400 m−3 s−1), a parcel of water in the lower Mississippi River was sampled every 2 h during its 4-d transit from river km 362 near Baton Rouge to km 0 at Head of Passes, Louisiana, United States. Properties measured at the surface during each of the 48 stations were temperature, salinity, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), total dissolved nitrogen, dissolved macronutrients (NO3+NO2, PO4, Si(OH)4), chlorophylla (chla; three size fractions: < 5 μm, 5–20 μm, and > 20 μm) pigment composition by HPLC, total suspended matter (TSM), particulate organic carbon (POC), and particulate nitrogen (PN). Air-water CO2 flux was calculated from surface water dissolved inorganic carbon and pH. During the 4 d transit, large particles appeared to be settling out of the surface water. Concentrations of chla containing particles > 20 μm declined 37%, TSM declined 43%, POC declined 42% and PN declined 57%. Concentrations of the smaller chla containing particles did not change suggesting only large particulate materials were settling. There was no measurable loss of dissolved NO3, PO4, or Si(OH)4, consistent with the observation that chla did not increase during the 4-d transit. DOC declined slightly (3%). These data indicate there was little autotrophic or heterotrophic activity in the lower Mississippi River at this time, but the system was slightly net heterotrophic.

New Approaches to the Gulf Hypoxia Problem

Coastal water hypoxia, where dissolved oxygen is less than 2 milligrams per liter, is a global environmental problem [e.g., Diaz and Rosenberg, 2008]. It is largely associated with eutrophication, whereby nutrient inputs (nitrogen and phosphorous) to coastal waters lead to elevated primary production and accelerated rates of microbial respiration, which results in oxygen depletion. Despite more than 25 years of monitoring [Rabalais et al., 2007] (see also Figure S1 in the online supplement to this Eos issue (http://www.agu.org/eos_elec/)), the relative importance of the various processes that control hypoxia in bottom waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM)–in particular, those beyond the direct influence of river plumes [Dagg et al., 2007; Bianchi et al., 2008, 2010, and references therein]—remains uncertain. For example, a prediction last June pronounced that the 2009 hypoxic area would be the largest on record (∼23,000 square kilo meters; see http://www.gulfhypoxia.net/Research/Shelfwide%20Cruises/2009/ Files/2009