Sedimentation and particulate nutrient dynamics along a coastal gradient from a fjord-like bay to the open sea

Abstract

Seasonal changes of total particulate material (TPM), particulate organic carbon (POC), nitrogen (PON) and phosphorus (PTP) concentrations in the water column, in sediment traps and on the sediment surface were studied in the SW coast of Finland, Baltic Sea, from March to November 1992. Sampling was carried out along a coastal gradient from the fjord-like, semi-enclosed Pojo Bay to the outer archipelago and open sea area. In Pojo Bay, TPM sedimentation rates were high and relatively constant, and had low organic carbon contents throughout the seasonal cycle. Resuspension was estimated to contribute > 90% of total sedimentation of POC and PON. Clear seasonality in sedimentation with high settling rates of primary organic material in spring, low sedimentation rates during summer and a considerable increase of resuspension during autumn was found in the outer archipelago and open sea. The C:N:P ratios of suspended, settled and sediment surface material indicated greater sedimentary loss of N (as compared to P and C) and closer coupling between pelagial and benthos in the archipelago and open sea area than in Pojo Bay. The sedimentation of P was 20–50% more effective (as compared to N and C) in Pojo Bay than elsewhere. These results indicate that the shift of planktonic nutrient limitation (from P to N limitation) is enhanced due to the more efficient sedimentation of the main limiting element along the estuarine gradient. The primary sedimentation of organic carbon (approximating export flux from the pelagic system) during the whole study period was estimated to be 30–48% of the total net primary production. This indicates that despite the differences in the salinity, nutrient dynamics and planktonic community structure along the coastal gradient, a relatively constant fraction of the annual primary production is exported from the pelagic system by sedimentation.