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Diatoms, silicic acid and biogenic silica dynamics along the salinity gradient of the Scheldt estuary (Belgium/The Netherlands)

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Abstract

The Scheldt estuary (Belgium/The Netherlands) was sampled along the entire salinity gradient from 2003 to 2005 for silicic acid (DSi), biogenic silica (BSi), suspended particulate matter (SPM) and pigments. Net DSi consumption and/or release within the estuary were investigated by comparing measured DSi concentrations with (fully-transient) model simulations of the concentrations that would have been obtained in case of conservative transport. The DSi consumption was at maximum in May due to diatoms of presumably marine origin blooming in the lower estuary. DSi consumption decreased rapidly in July, probably because of the grazing pressure of copepods also of marine origin, and DSi was released from late summer onwards. Multiple regression analyses showed that most of the BSi did not follow the dynamics of the living diatoms but rather that of the SPM. They also suggested that diatoms were more silicified in the upper estuary than in the lower estuary. Phytoliths were not expected to contribute significantly to the BSi pool. As BSi dynamics strongly differed from those of diatoms and DSi, this study highlighted the importance of taking BSi into account when investigating estuarine silica dynamics. This study also revealed the fundamental role of the coupling between the biogeochemical and ecological functioning of the lower estuary and that of the adjacent coastal zone. This contrasts with the classical consideration that estuaries act as one-way filters for dissolved and particulate material of riverine origin.

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Abbreviations

BSi:

(Particulate amorphous) biogenic silica

BSidet :

BSi not associated with living diatoms

BSiliv :

BSi associated with living diatoms

Chla :

Chlorophyll a

DiatChla :

Chla ascribed to diatoms

DSi:

Silicic acid

POC:

Particulate organic carbon

SPM:

Suspended particulate matter

SPMnbld :

SPM not associated with BSi nor with living diatoms

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Michaël Tsagaris, Laura Rebreanu and Nathalie Roevros for their assistance in field sampling. Laure-Sophie Schiettecatte (Unité d’Océanographie Chimique, Université de Liège) is acknowledged for sampling of the “Ste Anna” station. POC concentrations were measured by Nathalie Roevros, and BSi concentrations in June–July 2003 by Séverine Delstanche. Pierre Regnier, Damien Cardinal and Koenraad Muylaert commented on a previous version of the manuscript. We are grateful to the officers and crewmembers of the RV Belgica for their assistance during the various sampling campaigns in the Scheldt estuary. Water discharge data were provided by the Flanders Hydraulics Research, Hydrological Information Centre. DSi concentrations from various databases were used in this work: OMES data from the “Onderzoek naar de Milieu-Effecten van het Sigmaplan” project that were produced either by Universiteit Antwerpen (UA) or by Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), and SISCO data from the SISCO project that were published elsewhere (Carbonnel et al. 2009). This study was financed in the framework of the SISCO project by the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO) under contract number EV/11/17A. Additional funding was provided by the Belgian French Community (convention number FRFC 2.4579.04) and by the TIMOTHY project financed by BELSPO (Interuniversity Attraction Pole, IAP 6/13). This is also a contribution to the FP7 GEOCARBON project (Contract No. 283080) funded by the European Union. Leila J. Hamdan (Associated Editor) and two anonymous reviewers are acknowledged for their constructive comments on the manuscript.

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  1. Vincent Carbonnel

    Present address: Geography Department, Peking University, Yiheyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100871, People’s Republic of China

  2. Marie Lionard

    Present address: Département de Biologie, Université Laval, Pavillon Alexandre-Vachon, 1045, av. de la Médecine, Quebec, QC, G1V 0A6, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Service de Biogéochimie et Modélisation du Système Terre–Océanographie Chimique et Géochimie des Eaux, Département des Sciences de la Terre et de l’Environnement, Faculté des Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Campus de la Plaine–CP 208, Boulevard du Triomphe, 1050, Brussels, Belgium

    Vincent Carbonnel, Jean-Pierre Vanderborght & Lei Chou

  2. Protistology and Aquatic Ecology, Biology Department, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281-S8, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Marie Lionard

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Carbonnel, V., Vanderborght, JP., Lionard, M. et al. Diatoms, silicic acid and biogenic silica dynamics along the salinity gradient of the Scheldt estuary (Belgium/The Netherlands). Biogeochemistry 113, 657–682 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-012-9796-y

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