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

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 dep...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science of The Total Environment
Main Authors: González-Ortegón, E. (Enrique), Amaral, V., Baldó, F. (Francisco), Sánchez-Leal, R.F. (Ricardo Félix), Bellanco, M.J. (María Jesús), Jiménez, M.P. (María Paz), Forja, J., Vilas, C. (César), Tovar-Sánchez, A. (Antonio)
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Elsevier BV 2018
Subjects:
Organic matter
FDOM
Field-deployable sensor
Gulf of Cadiz
Water masses
Estuaries
Salinity gradient
Spatial distribution
Biogeochemical patterns
North Atlantic
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10508/15487
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.02.293
Description
Summary: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.

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