Fluxes of riverine nutrient to the Zhujiang River Estuary and its potential eutrophication effect

Li Zhang; Yumin Yang; Weihong He; Jie Xu; Ruihuan Li

doi:10.1007/s13131-021-1919-7

Volume 41 Issue 6

Jun. 2022

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Li Zhang, Yumin Yang, Weihong He, Jie Xu, Ruihuan Li. Fluxes of riverine nutrient to the Zhujiang River Estuary and its potential eutrophication effect[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2022, 41(6): 88-98. doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1919-7

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Li Zhang, Yumin Yang, Weihong He, Jie Xu, Ruihuan Li. Fluxes of riverine nutrient to the Zhujiang River Estuary and its potential eutrophication effect[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2022, 41(6): 88-98. doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1919-7

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Fluxes of riverine nutrient to the Zhujiang River Estuary and its potential eutrophication effect

doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1919-7

Li Zhang^{1, 3, 4},
Yumin Yang⁵,
Weihong He^{1, 3, 4},
Jie Xu^{2, 3, 4, 6},
Ruihuan Li^{2, 3, 4
,
,}

1.
Marine Environmental Testing Center, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China
2.
State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China
3.
Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou 511458, China
4.
Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China
5.
Guangdong Environmental Monitoring Center, Guangzhou 510308, China
6.
College of Marine Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266404, China

Funds: The Special Project for Marine Economic Development (Six Major Marine Industries) of Guangdong Province under contract No. GDNRC[2020]064; the Key Special Project for Introduced Talents Team of Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou) under contract Nos GML2019ZD0303, GML2019ZD0305 and GML2019ZD0402; the Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences under contract Nos ISEE2019ZR02 and ISEE2019ZR03; the National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 41676075 and 41706085; the Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong Province under contract No. 2018B030320005.

More Information

Corresponding author: E-mail: lirh@ysfri.ac.cn
Received Date: 2021-04-01
Accepted Date: 2021-06-15

Available Online: 2022-04-24

Publish Date: 2022-06-16

Abstract

Abstract

The Zhujiang River Estuary is becoming eutrophic due to the impact of anthropogenic activities in the past decades. To understand nutrient dynamics and fluxes to the Lingdingyang water via four outlets (Humen, Jiaomen, Hongqimen and Hengmen), we investigated the spatial distribution and seasonal variation of dissolved nutrients in the Zhujiang River Estuary, based on fourteen cruises conducted from March 2015 to October 2017, covering both wet (April to September) and dry (October to March next year) seasons. Our results showed that riverine fluxes of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and dissolved silicate (DSi) into the Lingdingyang water through four outlets varied seasonally due to the influence of river discharge, with the highest in spring and the lowest in winter. However, riverine flux of phosphate exhibited little significant seasonal variability. Riverine nutrients into the Lingdingyang water most resulted through Humen Outlet. The estuarine export fluxes of DIN out of the Zhujiang River Estuary derived from a box model were higher than fluxes of riverine nutrients in May, likely due to the influence of local sewage, while lower than riverine flux in August. The export fluxes of phosphate were higher than the fluxes of riverine phosphate in May and August. In contrast, large amounts of DSi were buried in the estuary in May and August. Although excess DIN was delivered into the Zhujiang River Estuary, eutrophication effect was not as severe as expected in the Zhujiang River Estuary, since the light limitation restricted the utilization of nutrients by phytoplankton.
- riverine nutrient,
- flux,
- Lingdingyang,
- Zhujiang River Estuary,
- eutrophication

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References(60)

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