Relationships among satellite chlorophylla, river inputs, and hypoxia on the Louisiana Continental shelf, Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

SeaWiFS ocean color measurements were used to investigate interannual, monthly, and weekly variations in chlorophylla (chla) on the Louisiana shelf and to assess relationships with river discharge, nitrate load, and hypoxia. During the study period (2000–2003), interannual changes in shelf-wide chla concentrations averaged over January–July ranged from +57% to −33% of the 4-yr average, in accord with freshwater discharge changes of +20% to −29% and nitrate load changes of +20% to −35% from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers. Chla variations were largest on the shelf between the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Deltas. Within this region, which corresponds spatially to the area of most frequent hypoxia, lowest January–July mean chla concentrations (5.5 mg m−3 over 7,000 km2) occurred during 2000, the year of lowest freshwater discharge (16,136 m3 s−1) and nitrate load (55,738 MT N d−1) onto the shelf. Highest January–July mean chla concentrations (13 mg m−3 over 7,000 km2) were measured in 2002, when freshwater discharge (27,440 m3s−1) and nitrate load (101,761 MT N d−1) were highest and second highest, respectively. Positive correlations (R2=0.4–0.5) were found between chla and both fresh water and nitrate loads with 0 to 1 month lags, with the strongest relationships just west of the Mississippi Delta. In 2001, unusually clear skies allowed the identification of distinct spring and summer chla blooms west of the Mississippi Delta 4–5 wk after peaks in river discharge. East of the delta, the chla concentrations peaked in June and July, following the seasonal reversal in the coastal current. A clear linkage was not detected between satellite-measured chla and hypoxia during the 4-yr period, based on a time series of bottom oxygen concentrations at one station within the area of most frequent hypoxia. Clear relationships are confounded by the interaction of physical processes (wind stress effects) with the seasonal cycle of nutrient-enhanced productivity and are influenced by the prior year's nitrate load and carbon accumulation at the seabed.