Could the Plume of Tuxpan River Influence the Norther Reefs of the Reef Corridor of The Southwestern Gulf of Mexico?

José De Jesús Salas Pérez

doi:10.19080/ofoaj.2021.13.555862

Abstract

Could the Plume of Tuxpan River Influence the Norther Reefs of the Reef Corridor of The Southwestern Gulf of Mexico?

Highlights

River discharges are strongly influenced by rainfall, which, when increasing, is directly proportional to the expenses of the rivers, which are direct fertilizers for the sea [1]
River Tuxpan have a summer discharge associated to the rainfall season >139 m3/s, which is greater than the Jamapa and Coatzacoalcos rivers, located in front of the Parque Nacional Sistema Arrecifal Veracruzano (PNSAV) and los Tuxtlas reefs (TR), respectively [6,7]
The study was doing on summer of 2005, the rainy season, which was a year of maximum rainfall (117 mm-357 mm) in the reef corridor of the southwestern Gulf of Mexico

Summary

Introduction

River discharges are strongly influenced by rainfall, which, when increasing, is directly proportional to the expenses of the rivers, which are direct fertilizers for the sea [1]. The study area is irrigated by the Common Gulf of México Water (CGMW) recirculated by a diurnal tide and dominated by a mesoscale and wind induced circulation [3,4,5]. It has been a matter of debate by specialists in the study of corals, whether the plume of the Tuxpan river affect the Tuxpans reefs with sandy and mud type sediments which had been found there (Jordán-Garza, personal communication). There arent previous studies which focuses to study the Tuxpan plume River and its influence over the reefs, so in this study, satellite data will be used to study the plume of the Tuxpan River: sea surface temperature, extension, and geometry and its influence on the reef system of the same name (Figure 1)

Results

Discussion

Conclusion