Nutrient Profiles along the Lower Cape Fear River Estuary from Bald Head Island (M18) up to Horseshoe Bend(HB)

Tyler Gibson

UNCW Center for Marine Science

CHM 576 research presentation

Stations sampled include M18, M23, M35, M42, M54, M61, and HB

Nutrients in the water column Nutrients drive phytoplankton blooms, along with

sunlight In the upper CFRE and lower Cape Fear River, nutrients do

not cause these blooms due to the ‘black’ river water. The closer to the ocean, the more phytoplankton and other

vegetation is able to photosynthesize and grow. This allows nutrient uptake.

This means that we should see decreasing nutrient levels from the upper CFRE (HB) to the more saline areas (M18) based on dilution by the seawater

Nutrient Analysis

Nutrient analysis was conducted by Auto-analyzer at CMS in Dr. Whitehead’s lab Nutrients analyzed include: Nitrate, Ammonium,

and Phosphate Data was then compared to other water quality

parameters in order to look for correlations to see what, if any, exist.

2009 Nutrient ConcentrationsCruise 1

Cruise 2

Nutrient Concentrations at surface in micrograms per Liter

0.002.004.006.008.00

10.0012.0014.0016.0018.00

stations

Phosphate

Nitrate

Ammonium

Nutrient Concentrations at depth in micrograms per Liter

0.002.004.006.008.00

10.0012.0014.0016.0018.00

stations

Phosphate

Nitrate

Ammonium

Nutrient Concentrations at surface in micrograms per Liter

0.002.004.006.008.00

10.0012.0014.0016.0018.00

stations

Phosphate

Nitrate

Ammonium

Nutrient Concentrations at depth in micrograms per Liter

0.00

2.00

4.00

6.00

8.00

10.00

12.00

14.00

stations

Phosphate

Nitrate

Ammonium

Average concentrations 2009

This graph shows the avg. values between Cruise 1 and 2 from 2009

2009 Avg. Nutrient Concentrations

-4.00

-2.00

0.00

2.00

4.00

6.00

8.00

10.00

12.00

14.00

16.00

m18 m23 m35 m42 m54 m61 HB

stations

Ammonium

Phosphate

Nitrate

Co

nc

. in

G

/L

Nutrient Concentrations: Cruise 1 vs. Cruise 2

Surface vs. Deep Phosphate for Cruise 1 and 2

0.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

1.40

m18 m23 m35 m42 m54 m61 HB

stations

deep1

deep2

surface1

surface2Con

c. P

in

G/L

Nutrient Concentrations: Cruise 1 vs. Cruise 2

Surface vs. Deep Nitrate for Cruise 1 and 2

0.00

2.00

4.00

6.00

8.00

10.00

12.00

14.00

16.00

18.00

m18 m23 m35 m42 m54 m61 HB

stations

deep1

deep2

surface1

surface2

Con

c. N

in

G/L

Nutrient Concentrations: Cruise 1 vs. Cruise 2

Surface vs. Deep Ammonium for Cruise 1 and 2

-0.50

0.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50

3.00

3.50

4.00

4.50

m18 m23 m35 m42 m54 m61 HB

stations

deep1

deep2

surface1

surface2

Con

c. N

in

G/L

Nutrient concentration vs. Salinity

Average Nutrients vs. Salinity at Surface

-4.00

-2.00

0.00

2.00

4.00

6.00

8.00

10.00

12.00

14.00

16.00

29.81 27.29 21.555 17.355 15.41 13.13 6.01

Avg. Salinity from m18 to HB

Avg. Phosphate

Avg. Nitrate

Avg. Ammonium

Average Nutrients vs. Salinity

-5.00

0.00

5.00

10.00

15.00

20.00

30.235 29.17 24.585 21.5 18.998 17.18 10.058

Avg. Salinity from m18 to HB

Avg. Phosphate

Avg. Nitrate

Avg. Ammonium

Co

nc

. N

ut.

in

G

/L

Co

nc.

Nu

t. i

n

G/L

Average Nutrients vs. Salinity at Depth

-4.00

-2.00

0.00

2.00

4.00

6.00

8.00

10.00

12.00

14.00

16.00

30.66 31.05 27.615 25.645 22.585 21.23 14.105

Avg. Salinity from m18 to HB

Avg. Phosphate

Avg. Nitrate

Avg. AmmoniumC

on

c. N

ut.

in

G

/L

2009 Phosphate data vs. 2008 LCFRP dataCruise1 2009 vs. LCFRP Sept. 2008

-20.0-10.0

0.010.0

20.030.040.0

50.060.0

70.080.0

m18 m23 m35 m42 m54 m61 HB

stations

cruise1

2008 sept LCFRP

Co

nc.

in

G

/L

Cruise2 2009 vs. LCFRP Oct. 2008

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

m18 m23 m35 m42 m54 m61 HB

stations

cruise2

2008 oct LCFRP

Co

nc.

in

G

/L

2009 Nitrate data vs. 2008 LCFRP NOx- data

Cruise1 2009 vs. LCFRP Sept. 2008

0.0

100.0

200.0

300.0

400.0

500.0

600.0

m18 m23 m35 m42 m54 m61 HB

stations

cruise1

2008 sept LCFRP

Co

nc.

in

G

/L

Cruise2 2009 vs. LCFRP Oct. 2008

0.0

200.0

400.0

600.0

800.0

1000.01200.0

1400.0

1600.0

1800.0

2000.0

m18 m23 m35 m42 m54 m61 HB

stations

cruise2

2008 oct LCFRP

Co

nc.

in

G

/L

2009 Ammonium data vs. 2008 LCFRP data

Cruise 2 2009 vs. LCFRP Oct 2008

-40.0

-20.0

0.0

20.0

40.0

60.0

80.0

100.0

120.0

140.0

m18 m23 m35 m42 m54 m61 HB

stations

Ammonium09

Ammonium08

Co

nc.

in

G

/L

Cruise 1 2009 vs. LCFRP sept 2008

-20.0

0.0

20.0

40.0

60.0

80.0

m18 m23 m35 m42 m54 m61 HB

stations

Ammonium09

Ammonium08

Co

nc.

in

G

/L

Phosphates over the past 5 yrs compared to our data

Phosphate levels over the past 5 yrs in the LCFRE from HB to m18

-40.0-20.0

0.0

20.040.060.080.0

100.0

120.0140.0160.0

m18 m23 m35 m42 m54 m61 HB

stations

Cruise1 2009

2008 sept LCFRP

2007 sept LCFRP

2006 sept LCFRP

2005 sept LCFRPCo

nc.

in

G

/L

Phosphate levels over the past 5 yrs in the LCFRE from HB to m18

-200.0

-100.0

0.0

100.0

200.0

300.0

400.0

500.0

m18 m23 m35 m42 m54 m61 HB

stations

Cruise2 2009

2008 oct LCFRP

2007 oct LCFRP

2006 oct LCFRP

2005 oct LCFRP

Co

nc.

in

G

/L

Nitrate concentrations over the past 5 yrs Nitrate levels over the past 5 yrs in the LCFRE from HB to m18

-200.0

-100.0

0.0

100.0

200.0

300.0

400.0

500.0

600.0

700.0

m18 m23 m35 m42 m54 m61 HB

stations

Cruise1

2008 sep LCFRP

2007 sep LCFRP

2006 sep LCFRP

2005 sep LCFRP

Co

nc.

in

G

/L

Nitrate levels over the past 5 yrs in the LCFRE from HB to m18

-1000.0

-500.0

0.0

500.0

1000.0

1500.0

2000.0

2500.0

m18 m23 m35 m42 m54 m61 HB

stations

Cruise2

2008 oct LCFRP

2007 oct LCFRP

2006 oct LCFRP

2005 oct LCFRP

Co

nc.

in

G

/L

Ammonium levels over the past 5 yrs.Ammonium levels over the past 5 yrs in the LCFRE from HB to m18

-10.0

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

m18 m23 m35 m42 m54 m61 HB

stations

Cruise1

2008 sep LCFRP

2007 sep LCFRP

2006 sep LCFRP

2005 sep LFCRP

Co

nc.

in

G

/L

Ammonium levels over the past 5 yrs in the LCFRE from HB to m18

-20.00.0

20.040.060.080.0

100.0120.0140.0

160.0180.0

m18 m23 m35 m42 m54 m61 HB

stations

Cruise2

2008 oct LCFRP

2007 oct LCFRP

2006 oct LCFRP

2005 oct LFCRP

Co

nc.

in

G

/L

References

http://chm576.pbworks.com/ http://www.uncwil.edu/CMSR/aquaticecology/

laboratory/LCFRP/index.htm