Sources and coastal distribution of dissolved organic matter in the Gulf of Cadiz

Abstract

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is a major component of the organic matter pool, playing a key role in the global ocean functioning. However, studies on DOM in waters of many ocean regions, such as the Gulf of Cadiz (GoC), are poorly known. Advanced aquatic sensors enable autonomous for long-term deployments in situ collection of high frequency DOM data using fluorescent dissolved organic matter (FDOM) as a proxy. The present study evaluates the relevance of FDOM, the estuarine influence and the environmental factors that determine its spatial distribution in the GoC. Our results suggest that the GoC water mass, under the estuarine influence of three main rivers, is receiving large amounts of DOM transported mainly by Guadalquivir and Guadiana rivers and much less from Tinto-Odiel. Salinity is the main factor explaining the FDOM variability within the Guadalquivir and Guadiana rivers and in the inner shelf of the GoC. In the outer shelf of the GoC, plankton-produced DOM could explain the persistent spatial pattern of FDOM, playing an important role in the dynamics of FDOM from the North area of the GoC through the persistent low-salinity Eastern North Atlantic Central Water. The oceanographic dynamics and the spatial pattern of FDOM concentration in the continental shelf of the GoC suggest a net transport of FDOM through the GCC (Gulf of Cadiz Current) to the Mediterranean Sea.