High resolution monitoring of episodic stratification events in an enclosed marine system

Abstract

While hypoxic and anoxic environments have existed throughout geological time, their frequency of occurrence in shallow coastal and estuarine areas appears to be increasing. However, few data are available on the physicochemical conditions at the boundary between anoxic and normoxic layers, including the conditions required for both formation and dissipation of stratification. Advances in autonomous environmental sensing technology have produced robust sensors capable of detailed measurements under inhospitable conditions created in such environments. In this study, an autonomous sensor approach was used to compare water column properties above and below the stratification before during and after dissipation of the stratification. Further, an investigation into the effect of the stratification on sedimentation rates of organic and inorganic matter and current speeds is reported here. Lough Hyne, a seasonally stratified temperate marine lake provided favourable conditions for this study. It was shown that temperatures dropped rapidly above the oxy-thermocline while increasing rapidly below the stratification, leading to a mixing of the complete water column. This was reflected in oxygen measurements below the stratification, which rose from anoxia to normoxic conditions over the same time period. During summer, the thermocline formed a barrier to organic matter sedimentation, reducing it significantly when present, while inorganic matter sedimentation was unaffected by the presence of thermocline. It also caused a reduction in current speeds below the thermocline.