Seasonal and spatial variations of dissolved carbon and nitrogen in the Santos estuarine system, Southeastern Brazil.

Abstract

We investigated the concentrations of nutrients carbon and nitrogen in Santos Estuarine System (SES). The SES is located in the region of Baixada Santista (Santos, Brazil) and is ecologically and economically important due to biological diversity, high levels of metal pollution and sewage, and the presence of the port considered the largest and most productive in Latin America. For the preparation of the nutrient flow model, limnological and oceanographic data were obtained in water and sediment of 27 stations distributed in SES between 2000 and 2008. Significant contributions especially of organic carbon and nitrogen were observed from the communities living around the estuary and the Santos bay. Equations were developed to explain the flow of nutrients based on the type estuary, tidal flows and channel. The SES was classified as a partially mixed system. The results showed that the system has a conservative behavior to salinity and non-conservative to carbon and nitrogen. Key words: Carbon, nitrogen, modeling, salinity, nutrients flow