Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
9465870 | Marine Pollution Bulletin | 2005 | 9 Pages |
Abstract
The Fitzroy estuary (Queensland, Australia) receives large, but highly episodic, river flows from a catchment (144,000 km2) which has undergone major land clearing. Large quantities of suspended sediments, and particulate and dissolved organic carbon are delivered. At peak flows, δ13C (â21.7 ± 0.8â°) and C/N (14.8 ± 1.3) of the suspended solids indicate that the particulate organic material entering the estuary is principally soil organic carbon. At the lower beginning flows the particulate organic matter comes from in-stream producers (δ13C = â26â°). The DOC load is about 10 times the POC load. Using the inverse method, budgets for POC and DOC were constructed for high and low flows. Under high flows, only a small portion of the POC and DOC load is lost in the estuary. Under dry season (low flow) conditions the estuary is a sink for DOC, but remains a source of POC to the coastal waters.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Earth and Planetary Sciences
Oceanography
Authors
Phillip Ford, Pei Tillman, Barbara Robson, Ian T. Webster,