William J. Wiseman

Nutrient-enhanced productivity in the northern Gulf of Mexico: past, present and future

Nutrient over-enrichment in many areas around the world is having pervasive ecological effects on coastal ecosystems. These effects include reduced dissolved oxygen in aquatic systems and subsequent impacts on living resources. The largest zone of oxygen-depleted coastal waters in the United States, and the entire western Atlantic Ocean, is found in the northern Gulf of Mexico on the Louisiana/Texas continental shelf influenced by the freshwater discharge and nutrient load of the Mississippi River system. The mid-summer bottom areal extent of hypoxic waters (<2 mg 1−1 02) in 1985–1992 averaged 8000 to 9000 km2 but increased to up to 16000 to 20 700 km2 in 1993–2001. The Mississippi River system is the dominant source of fresh water and nutrients to the northern Gulf of Mexico. Mississippi River nutrient concentrations and loading to the adjacent continental shelf have changed in the last half of the 20th century. The average annual nitrate concentration doubled, and the mean silicate concentration was reduced by 50%. There is no doubt that the average concentration and flux of nitrogen (per unit volume discharge) increased from the 1950s to 1980s, especially in the spring. There is considerable evidence that nutrient-enhanced primary production in the northern Gulf of Mexico is causally related to the oxygen depletion in the lower water column. Evidence from long-term data sets and the sedimentary record demonstrate that historic increases in riverine dissolved inorganic nitrogen concentration and loads over the last 50 years are highly correlated with indicators of increased productivity in the overlying water column, i.e. eutrophication of the continental shelf waters, and subsequent worsening of oxygen stress in the bottom waters. Evidence associates increased coastal ocean productivity and worsening oxygen depletion with changes in landscape use and nutrient management that resulted in nutrient enrichment of receiving waters. A steady-state model, calibrated to different observed summer conditions, was used to assess the response of the system to reductions in nutrient inputs. A reduction in surface layer chlorophyll and an increase in lower layer dissolved oxygen resulted from a reduction of either nitrogen or phosphorus loading, with the response being greater for nitrogen reductions.

Comparison of continuous records of near-bottom dissolved oxygen from the hypoxia zone along the Louisiana coast

Oxygen depletion is a seasonally dominant feature of the lower water column on the highly-stratified, riverine-influenced continental shelf of Louisiana. The areal extent of hypoxia (bottom waters ≤2 mg l−1 dissolved oxygen) in mid-summer may encompass up to 9,500 km2, from the Mississippi River delta to the upper Texas coast, with the spatial configuration of the zone varying interannually. We placed two continuously recording oxygen meters (Endeco 1184) within 1 m of the seabed in 20-m water depth at two locations 77 km apart where we previously documented midsummer bottom water hypoxia. The oxygen meters recorded considerably different oxygen conditions for a 4-mo deployment from mid-June through mid-October. At the station off Terrebonne Bay (C6A), bottom waters were severely depleted in dissolved oxygen and often anoxic for most of the record from mid-June through mid-August, and there were no strong diurnal or diel patterns. At the station 77 km to the east and closer to the Mississippi River delta (WD32E), hypoxia occurred for only 50% of the record, and there was a strong diurnal pattern in the oxygen time-series data. There was no statistically significant coherence between the oxygen time-series at the two stations. Coherence of the oxygen records with wind records was weak. The dominant coherence identified was between the diurnal peaks in the WD32E oxygen record and the bottom pressure record from a gauge located at the mouth of Terrebonne Bay, suggesting that the dissolved oxygen signal at WD32E was due principally to advection by tidal currents. Although the oxygen time-series were considerably different, they were consistent with the physical and biological processes that affect hypoxia on the Louisiana shelf. Differences in the time-series were most intimately tied to the topographic cross-shelf gradients in the two locations, that is, station C6A off Terrebonne Bay was in the middle of a broad, gradually sloping shelf and station WD32E in the Mississippi River Delta Bight was in an area with a steeper cross-shelf depth gradient and likely situated near the edge of a hypoxic water mass that was tidally advected across the study site.

A brief summary of hypoxia on the northern Gulf of Mexico continental shelf: 1985–1988

Abstract Oxygen-deficient conditions occur from April to October on the inner to middle continental shelf of the northern Gulf of Mexico and may cover up to 9500 km2 during mid-summer off the Louisiana coast. Hypoxic bottom waters are found in 5–60 m water depth, 5–60 km offshore and extend up to 20 m above the bottom. Salient forcing functions contributing to hypoxic water formation, maintenance and break-up are presented. Stratification is directly correlated with hypoxia in time and space, suggesting that reaeration of bottom waters is controlled by physical processes that are influenced by regional wind fields, river discharge and continental shelf scale currents. Phytoplankton biomass reaches the bottom waters in the hypoxic zones in large amounts (>5 µg/l), fueling water column and benthic respiration rates, but to a currently unknown degree. Increased nutrient loadings in the two major rivers and changes in the proportion of those nutrients essential to phytoplankton growth have probably changed both the phytoplankton community species composition and community production. It is not yet clear whether the extent and severity of hypoxia on the Louisiana continental shelf have changed as a result of these riverine water quality changes.

Fresh water on the Louisiana and Texas shelf

Abstract Hydrographic data collected on monthly cruises over the West Louisiana and Texas shelf from 1963 to 1965 were analyzed and the volume of fresh water on the shelf was estimated for each data set. The freshwater volume exhibits an annual cycle that is dominated by the spring flood of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers. During the winter, shelf freshwater content is low, with the highest content appearing as a discontinuous band along the inner shelf. In summer an isolated high-content region is present in the center of the shelf. This high-content region dissipates and the pattern migrates toward the southeast in the late summer. By late fall the winter distribution is again present. A fill time for the freshwater volume on the shelf was also estimated for each cruise. The freshwater volume appears, in most cases, to have originated near the time of the previous spring flood. Two of the study years had river discharges well below the long-term mean, while the third-year discharge approximated the long-term mean. These results, then, may not be applicable to large-discharge years.

A preliminary mass balance model of primary productivity and dissolved oxygen in the Mississippi River Plume/Inner Gulf Shelf Region

A deterministic, mass balance model for phytoplankton, nutrients, and dissolved oxygen was applied to the Mississippi River Plume/Inner Gulf Shelf (MRP/IGS) region. The model was calibrated to a comprehensive set of field data collected during July 1990 at over 200 sampling stations in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The spatial domain of the model is represented by a three-dimensional, 21-segment water-column grid extending from the Mississippi River Delta west to the Louisiana-Texas border, and from the shoreline seaward to the 30–60 m bathymetric contours. Diagnostic analyses and numerical experiments were conducted with the calibrated model to better understand the environmental processes controlling primary productivity and dissolved oxygen dynamics in the MRP/IGS region. Underwater light attenuation appears relatively more important than nutrient limitation in controlling rates of primary productivity. Chemical-biological processes appear relatively more important than advective-dispersive transport processes in controlling bottom-water dissolved oxygen dynamics. Oxidation of carbonaceous material in the water column, phytoplankton respiration, and sediment oxygen demand all appear to contribute significantly to total oxygen depletion rates in bottom waters. The estimated contribution of sediment oxygen demand to total oxygen-depletion rates in bottom waters ranges from 22% to 30%. Primary productivity appears to be an important source of dissolved oxygen to bottom waters in the region of the Atchafalaya River discharge and further west along the Louisiana Inner Shelf. Dissolved oxygen concentrations appear very sensitive to changes in underwater light attenuation due to strong coupling between dissolved oxygen and primary productivity in bottom waters. The Louisiana Inner Shelf in the area of the Atchafalaya River discharge and further west to the Texas border appears to be characterized by significantly different light attenuation-depth-primary productivity relationships than the area immediately west of the Mississippi Delta. Nutrient remineralization in the water column appears to contribute significantly to maintaining chlorophyll concentrations on the Louisiana Inner Shelf.

Consequences of the 1993 Mississippi River flood in the Gulf of Mexico

Seasonally severe hypoxia (≤2 mg O2 l−1) occurs in waters below the pycnocline on the northern Gulf of Mexico inner continental shelf in May through September over extensive areas (up to 18 000 km2). Spatial and temporal variability in the distribution of hypoxic water masses is related, in part, to the amplitude and phasing of freshwater discharge from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers, circulation patterns, nutrient flux and a close coupling with net productivity. The Mississippi River flood in 1993 and sustained freshwater inputs to the Gulf of Mexico occurred during mid-summer through early autumn when long-term mean flows (1930–1995) are normally lowest. Long-term studies of the Louisiana shelf hypoxic zone provided a natural experiment to examine the effects of extreme high river flow on the adjacent continental shelf. Oxygen levels in bottom waters were severely reduced in July, August and September compared to long-term averages (1985–1992). Also, the areal extent of the bottom-water hypoxia in mid-summer 1993 was approximately twice as large as the average area mapped in the previous 8 years during mid-summer shelfwide surveys. Contributing to increased severity and areal extent of hypoxia in 1993 were reduced surface water salinities, increased strength of the pycnocline, five to ten times higher nutrient concentrations, greater phytoplankton biomass, an order of magnitude greater abundance of phytoplankton, mostly small, coccoid cyanobacteria, and a shift in diatom community dynamics. An equally extensive hypoxic zone in mid-summer of 1994, when riverine fluxes of freshwater and nutrients were ‘normal’, suggests some residual effects of the 1993 summer flooding.

Salinity stratification in a river-dominated estuary

Analysis of salinity data from Mobile Bay indicates that stratification-destratification events within this broad, shallow estuary are not uncommon. These events are related to the strength of the winds, through their influence on wave generation and subsequent bottom drag coefficient increases, and to the strength of river discharge. They do not appear to be due to the strength of tidal currents, as has been observed elsewhere. Furthermore, river flow appears to be the dominant control, the winds being important only in the absence of large freshwater discharges. The annual spring freshet can flush most of the salt from the bay. During other times of the year the relative strengths of river discharge and wind stress change the bay from highly stratified to nearly homogeneous and back on a variety of time scales ranging from daily to seasonal.

Gas exchange, dispersion, and biological productivity on the West Florida Shelf: Results from a Lagrangian Tracer Study

A Lagrangian tracer study was performed on the west Florida shelf in April 1996 using deliberately injected trace gases. Although such studies have been performed previously, this work is the first where the deliberate tracers, in conjunction with carbon system parameters, are used to quantify changes in water column carbon inventories due to air-sea exchange and net community metabolism. The horizontal dispersion and the gas transfer velocity were determined over a period of 2 weeks from the change in both the concentrations and the concentration ratio of the two injected trace gases, sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) and helium-3 (³He). The second moment of the patch grew to 1.6 × 10³ km² over a period of 11 days. The gas transfer velocity, normalized to CO2 exchange at 20°C, was 8.4 cm hr−1 at an average wind speed, U10, of 4.4 m s−1 for the duration of the experiment, which is in good agreement with empirical estimates. Remineralization rates exceeded productivity, causing an increase in dissolved inorganic carbon of about 1 µmol kg−1 day−1 in the water column. During this period of senescence, 80% of the increase in inorganic carbon is attributed to community remineralization and 20% due to invasion of atmospheric CO2.

Subtidal circulation patterns in a shallow, highly stratified estuary: Mobile Bay, Alabama

Mobile Bay is a wide (25-50 km), shallow (3 m), highly stratified estuary on the Gulf coast of the United States. In May 1991 a series of instruments that measure near-surface and near-bed current, temperature, salinity, and middepth pressure were deployed for a year-long study of the bay. A full set of measurements were obtained at one site in the lower bay ; all but current measurements were obtained at a midbay site. These observations show that the subtidal currents in the lower bay are highly sheared, despite the shallow depth of the estuary. The sheared flow patterns are partly caused by differential forcing from wind stress and river discharge. Two wind-driven flow patterns actually exist in lower Mobile Bay. A barotropic response develops when the difference between near-surface and near-bottom salinity is less than 5 parts per thousand. For stronger salinity gradients the wind-driven currents are larger and the response resembles a baroclinic flow pattern. Currents driven by river flows are sheared and also have a nonlinear response pattern. Only near-surface currents are driven seaward by discharges below 3000 m 3 /s. At higher discharge rates, surface current variability uncouples from the river flow and the increased discharge rates drive near-bed current seaward. This change in the river-forced flow pattern may be associated with a hydraulic jump in the mouth of the estuary.

Property fields in an effluent plume of the Mississippi River

Surface property distributions were mapped in the Mississippi River plume during May and August 1993 while following surface drifters. Prevailing winds were the primary factor controlling the orientation of the plume. In May, under typical southeasterly winds, the plume turned anticyclonically towards the coast, while in August, under anomalous westerly winds, the plume turned east. Remote imagery of sea surface temperature and suspended sediments confirmed the direction of the plume. Optimally interpolated maps of surface salinity, temperature, chlorophyll a fluorescence, and transmissivity from underway sampling, and periodic nutrient samples, reveal the plume structure. In May concentrations of nitrate, silicate, and phosphate decreased linearly with increasing salinity. Chlorophyll a increased to peak concentrations of 10 μg 1−1 in the plume, although higher pigment biomass was observed near the coast. In August nitrate and silicate concentrations decreased conservatively near the mouth of SW Pass, except where pigment biomass was enhanced in a convergent surface front. Surface nutrient concentrations in the plume also decreased with increasing salinity. The observations provide the first Lagrangian view of surface property distributions in the Mississippi River plume, and indicate that significant temporal variability exists in physical and biological properties within a day after waters are discharged from the river delta.