Assessing Trends in Nutrient Concentrations in Coastal Shelf Seas: a Case Study in the Irish Sea

Single point time-series data collected in the Irish Sea since 1954 by Allen et al. (1998) have been re-evaluated using more recent data and areal winter surveys of the Celtic and Irish Seas. Survey data illustrate the heterogeneity of nutrient distributions with N (≈28 μM) and P (2·0 μM) enrichment of the eastern Irish Sea relative to the western Irish Sea (7–8 μM N and 0·7 μM P). Salinity nutrient relationships demonstrate distinct regional differences throughout the two seas. Trends in the Isle of Man time-series are unlikely to have resulted from changes in analytical procedures and personnel. Concerns over data quality cannot be resolved and there are no independent data to validate the time-series. Including more recent data shows P has declined since the late 1980s and N concentrations have remained stable since the mid 1970s. The absence of a Si trend is consistent with limited anthropogenic influence on riverine Si concentrations. Trends in N and P are consistent with changes in riverine concentrations of these two nutrients and the biogeochemical processes controlling their cycling in shelf waters. Denitrification is the most likely reason for offshore Irish Sea concentrations of N being lower than expected.     

Intense localized productivity in the Irish Sea

The variability of primary productivity in surface waters was continuously recorded during spatial and sectional surveys of the Irish Sea in the summer of 1977. Localized patches of intense productivity were found, not in the frontal region of the western Irish Sea, but farther east. Subsurface distributions of physical, chemical and biological characteristics through a latitudinal section of the Irish Sea are reported. These data showed that the productivity peaks occurred at the boundaries of a water type exhibiting properties uncharacteristic of Irish Sea waters.     

黄海氮磷营养盐的循环和收支研究

建立了一个生物-物理耦合的三维营养盐动力学模型,模拟了黄海无机氮、活性磷酸盐和叶绿素a的年循环规律,估算了黄海营养盐的收支情况和季节差异,并将数值结果与实测资料进行比较。结果表明:黄海无机氮和无机磷经历了春、夏的消耗及秋、冬的补充,维持了黄海全年较高的生产力,年平均初级生产力达508mgC·m-2·d-1。黄海水文环境在很大程度上影响着营养盐的分布和生态功能:黄海中部深水区季节性热层化在春季萌发、秋末消衰,使夏季表层水营养盐匮乏,底层冷水团营养盐大量蓄集,因此初级生产力在5-6月和11月出现双峰特征,而近岸海水几乎全年混合均匀,初级生产力单峰出现在6-8月。河流每年为黄海输送225.4×103t无机氮和6.82×103t无机磷,使北黄海及近岸营养盐丰富,尤其朝鲜沿岸径流注入大量的营养盐,使其新生生产力较高,f比平均达55%。光合作用和呼吸作用是营养盐最大的汇和源,黄海中部沉积物-水界面交换向水体提供大量的硝酸氮,为新生产贡献56%的氮。大气沉降补充的营养盐占年初级生产所需氮、磷的6%和1.5%,为河流输入营养盐的3～5倍。     

The vertical distribution of zooplankton in the western Irish Sea

Zooplankton diel vertical migration is evident on the mixed isothermal side of the western Irish Sea frontal system but is often influenced by large tides and persistent geostrophic currents. On the stratified side of the front, temperature acts as a controlling factor with most of the zooplankton occurring above the thermocline and carrying out pronounced vertical migration when chlorophyll a levels are low and diffuse. At higher chlorophyll levels, when discrete chlorophyll a maxima form, zooplankton vertical movement may be greatly modified with a large number of species and stages concentrating within these maxima at all times of the diel light cycle.     

Changes in Irish Sea Benthos: Possible Effects of 40 years of Dredging

From 1946 to 1951 Dr N. S. Jones sampled the benthos around the south of the Isle of Man from over 200 sites. Multivariate methods have been used here to compare subsets of this historical data with recent data from the same locations: of these locations some have been subject to heavy scallop dredging over the intervening 40 plus years and some to little dredging. Clear changes were apparent regardless of scallop dredging intensity. Some of the changes in the heavily dredged areas were those expected to result from extreme physical disturbance—an increased polychaete mollusc ratio, loss of some fragile species, and an increase in the predominance of scavenger/predator species. However, changes in the lightly dredged areas also included the loss of a number of species including some potentially fragile tube-dwellers. Reasons for these changes were not apparent.     

Physical and anthropogenic effects on observed long-term nutrient changes in the Irish Sea

The trend in Irish Sea nutrient concentrations over the last four decades has been considered to reflect changes in anthropogenic loading. Comparison of a long-term database for the Menai Strait, North Wales, with an established historic data set for the Cypris station, Isle of Man, indicates that climate also has a significant influence on observations of nutrient concentrations. Data are presented detailing long-term shifts in nitrate, phosphate and silicate measurements since the 1960s at these two fixed sampling sites in the Irish Sea. Broad systematic changes observed in all three nutrients over the decades show a rise from the 1960s through to the 1980s, followed generally by an overall decline in the 1990s. Decadal-scale salinity changes occur in the opposite sense to nutrient changes. Anthropogenic inputs from freshwater cannot fully account for observed nutrient trends, neither is there evidence for shifts in nutrient concentrations in oceanic waters over the past four decades. Climatically forced movement in the geographical position of the freshwater/seawater mixing zone over a decadal time scale could, however, give rise to the observed shifts in nutrient concentration and salinity. This cannot alter nutrient concentration and salinity per se, but causes the measurements taken at fixed sampling sites to fluctuate inversely over this time scale. It is concluded that there is complex interplay between anthropogenic loading and climate affecting the distribution of nutrients in the Irish Sea.     

Seasonal Variations in Inorganic Nutrient Budgets of the Bangpakong Estuary, Thailand

Seasonal variations in freshwater, salt, dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) in the Bangpakong estuary, Thailand were investigated by employing the database obtained in the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT)-Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) cooperative project from 1994 to 1997. The results showed that variation in interaction between coastal sea and river discharge played an important role in controlling the characteristics of the water in the estuary. Residence time of fresh water was short in wet season and dry season, but it was long in the transition period from season to season. DIP and DIN load depended on river discharge, while high peak concentrations were related to loading and the long residence time in the transition period between dry and wet seasons. A strong eutrophic condition could possibly occur when the concentration of DIP and DIN were high during the onset of the wet season from April to July. The annual average of inorganic nutrient budgets indicated that the Bangpakong estuary is the internal source of 38.2 tons/month DIP and the internal sink of 4.9 tons/month DIN. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Activity Concentrations and Fluxes of Radiocesium in the Southern Baltic Sea

The activity concentrations of dissolved¹³⁷Cs have been determined in the water column and¹³⁷Cs and¹³⁴Cs in the sediments and the sediment porewaters of the southern Baltic Sea. The mean activity concentration of dissolved¹³⁷Cs in the Gdansk Deep declined from 109 Bq m⁻³in June 1986 to 61 Bq m⁻³in 1999. In sediments, the activity concentrations of¹³⁷Cs (33-231 Bq kg⁻¹) were highest in muds and the activity concentrations of¹³⁴Cs were about 6% of the total Cs activity. The Chernobyl contribution to¹³⁷Cs activity was between 43% and 77%. The porewater activity concentrations of¹³⁷Cs in muddy sediments were in the range 71 to 3900 Bq m⁻³and were higher than those in the overlying seawater. The diffusive flux of dissolved¹³⁷Cs from the muddy sediments was estimated in the range 5 to 480 Bq m⁻²year⁻¹. The flux of¹³⁷Cs from sediment porewaters of the southern Baltic Sea was about 45% of the total, including fluxes of¹³⁷Cs from wet and dry atmospheric deposition and the fluvial inputs. The results were used to elucidate the rate of recovery of the sediments and the waters of the southern Baltic from Chernobyl-derived¹³⁷Cs.     

Plutonium in intertidal coastal and estuarine sediments in the Northern Irish Sea

Surface intertidal sediments from 35 sites in the Irish Sea have been analysed for their ²³⁸Pu and ^239,240Pu activities, together with an intensive study of plutonium in sediments of the Esk Estuary (NW England). The range of plutonium activities for the whole survey were 0·14–4118 and 1·3–16 026 Bq kg⁻¹ for ²³⁸Pu and ^239,240Pu, respectively. The levels of Pu activity, derived from the Sellafield nuclear fuel reprocessing effluents, in sediments are controlled by lithological factors and the influence of transport and post-depositional processes. Grain size distribution is particularly important, the major part of plutonium activity being in the mud fraction of all sediments.The data suggest that over the Irish Sea coastline, dynamic mixing of sediment grains by reworking and resuspension and/or by dispersion in tidal currents are important in determining plutonium distributions. The exponential decrease in sediment plutonium activities away from the Sellafield source is attributed to the progressive mixing with older contaminated and uncontaminated sediments.     

Water transport from the North-east Irish Sea to western Scottish coastal waters: Further observations from time-trend matching of Sellafield radiocaesium

Radiocaesium isotopes, discharged into the North-east Irish Sea from the Sellafield (formerly Windscale) nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Cumbria, have been employed as flow monitors to update and extend the record of coastal water movement from the Irish Sea to the Clyde Sea area and, further north, to Loch Etive. The temporal trends in radiocaesium levels have been used to determine the extent of water mixing en route and to define mean advection rates. Flow conditions from the Irish Sea have changed considerably since the mid-1970s, the residence time of northern Irish Sea waters being ～12 months during 1978–1980 inclusive. Average transport times of four and six months are estimated for the Sellafield to Clyde and Sellafield to Etive transects respectively. Sellafield ¹³⁷Cs levels in seawater were diluted by factors of 27 and 50 respectively during current movement to the Clyde and Etive areas. The decrease in salinity-corrected ¹³⁷Cs concentrations between the Clyde and Etive suggests that dilution by Atlantic water occurs, the latter mainly entering the Firth of Lorne from the west. The majority (～94%) of the radiocaesium supply to Loch Etive enters the Firth of Lorne via the portion of the coastal current circulating west of Islay, only ～6% arriving via the Sound of Jura.     

刺参不同养殖模式实验围隔内沉积物——水界面营养盐通量研究

研究刺参(Apostichopus japonicus)养殖模式对池塘底质的影响,于2007年5～11月间从不同养殖模式实验围隔内采得底泥样并通过实验室培养的方法测定了底泥耗氧率(SOD)及沉积物-水界面的N、P等.结果表明,投饵对SOD影响不显著(P>0.05),说明本实验条件下投饵没有造成实验围隔底泥中的有机物积累;7月份的SOD与其它月份间存在显著差异(P<0.05);大部分模式中沉积物释放溶解性无机磷酸盐(DIP)且不同月份之间的通量存在显著差异(P<0.05),不同模式之间的变化较复杂;在硝酸盐(NO-3+NO-2)通量结果中,投饵模式下的平均通量为非投饵模式下通量值的2～3倍,夏季的交换通量为冬季交换通量的2倍;当养殖密度较大时,非投饵模式中沉积物吸收氨氮的通量大于投饵模式中的通量,其它密度下投饵模式中沉积物释放氨氮的通量大于非投饵模式中的通量,并且随着养殖密度的增加通量值降低.     

A model of turbidity maximum maintenance in the Irish Sea

A two-dimensional model has been developed in order to improve understanding of the processes which interact to maintain the sediment concentrations at an isolated turbidity maximum in the Irish Sea throughout the year. The model comprises two interchangeable populations of particles with different diameters, one of fine cohesive material, the other made up of flocs. Both populations are slow settling, and subject to horizontal diffusion, resuspension, settling, aggregation and disaggregation.The equations used to describe the processes of aggregation and the break-up of flocs in response to sediment concentration and turbulent shear have been developed by the tuning of the model to observations. Due to high turbulent shear at the turbidity maximum, the particles are predominantly fine, while the sediment in the surrounding water is made up of larger flocs. Diffusion of small particles out of the turbidity maximum balanced by the diffusion of aggregated material towards it provides a mechanism for its maintenance. The modelled sediment concentrations at the turbidity maximum can be reproduced year-on-year, with no loss due to diffusive processes. This is achievable with a limited, exhaustible source of material which is not replenished once resuspended.Through comparison with satellite imagery the correlation of the modelled sediment concentrations with observations is investigated, both spatially and temporally. The seasonal cycle is reproduced well by the model with winter and summer concentrations matching those observed. Spatially the model also performs well in both turbid regions and those where the surface sediment load is low.     

黄海中部营养盐的贯跃层输运

黄海中部层化季节上下混合层的温差远高于其他近岸海区,温跃层较强,但通过湍流卷挟仍存在贯跃层物质输运。根据从能量平衡出发的混合层理论模型,计算了黄海中部上、下层的卷挟速度,根据3个航次调查资料,定量估计了层化季节贯跃层的营养盐输运。结果表明:下层黄海冷水团是真光层的营养盐储库,通过湍流卷挟夏季可带来15.9mgC·m-2·d-1的新生产,半个月之内它可以更新上层海洋的营养盐,与大气氮输入作用同量级,远大于大气磷输入;春秋两季贯跃层输入比大气氮输入更为重要,春秋季前者带来的新生产分别为初级生产力的21%和30%,而大气氮输入带来的新生产春季为初级生产的5.7%,秋季为初级生产的9.5%。在整个层化季节营养盐的贯跃层输运带来的新生产在整个初级生产中可能占有很大份额。秋末强风过程带来的强湍流卷挟,可在一周之内更新上层海洋的营养盐,并在风停后刺激上层初级生产的增加。