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A Biogeochemical View of Estuarine Eutrophication: Seasonal and Spatial Trends and Correlations in the Delaware Estuary

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Abstract

The Delaware River and Bay Estuary is one of the major urbanized estuaries of the world. The 100-km long tidal river portion of the estuary suffered from major summer hypoxia in the past due to municipal and industrial inputs in the urban region; the estuary has seen remarkable water quality improvements from recent municipal sewage treatment upgrades. However, the estuary still has extremely high nutrient loading, which appears to not have much adverse impact. Since the biogeochemistry of the estuary has been relatively similar for the past two decades, our multiple year research database is used in this review paper to address broad spatial and seasonal patterns of conditions in the tidal river and 120 km long saline bay. Dissolved oxygen concentrations show impact from allochthonous urban inputs and meteorological forcing as well as biological influences. Nutrient concentrations, although high, do not stimulate excessive algal biomass due to light and multiple nutrient element limitations. Since the bay does not have strong persistent summer stratification, there is little potential for bottom water hypoxia. Elevated chlorophyll concentrations do not exert much influence on light attenuation since resuspended bottom inorganic sediments dominate the turbidity. Dissolved inorganic carbon and dissolved and particulate organic carbon distributions show significant variability from watershed inputs and lesser impact from urban inputs and biological processes. Ratios of dissolved and particulate carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus help to understand watershed and urban inputs as well as autochthonous biological influences. Owing to the relatively simple geometry of the system and localized anthropogenic inputs as well as a broad spatial and seasonal database, it is possible to develop these biogeochemical trends and correlations for the Delaware Estuary. We suggest that this biogeochemical perspective allows a revised evaluation of estuarine eutrophication that should have generic value for understanding other estuarine and coastal waters.

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Acknowledgements

The data for this paper come from numerous research efforts over the past quarter of a century. A major award from the Delaware Sea Grant College program (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration grant number NA83AA-D-00017) in the early 1980s; support from the Delaware River and Bay Authority in the early 1980s; and a major award from the National Science Foundation Chemical Oceanography Program (OCE 86-01616) in the mid 1980s helped launch the effort. A number of smaller Sea Grant awards and auxiliary sampling from a number of NSF grants in the 1990s have also helped support this activity. A Cooperative Agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency (CX82961601-4) has supported assembling a coherent database and helped in development of this paper. Also, recent grants from the Chemical Oceanography Program of the NSF (OCE 0082238, OCE 0352280) have helped support sampling, analysis, and data compilation over the past several years.

Many individuals assisted in the collection and analyses of samples over about 30 years. Seventeen former and current graduate students, ten research assistants, two post-doctoral associates, and five faculty colleagues were heavily involved in assisting on research cruises. A number of their publications are cited in the literature. In addition, hundreds of high school students, undergraduate students, other graduate students, and local citizens have assisted as volunteers on research cruises. The excellent assistance of the captains and crews of the R/V Cape Henlopen over the 25 years is also acknowledged. The efficient and capable assistance of the ship’s crew and oceanographic technicians has made the short and concentrated sampling activities possible.

We thank two anonymous reviewers for constructive criticism that was useful in revising the manuscript and we acknowledge the valuable advice and specific recommendations from Editors-in-Chief James Cloern and Carlos Duarte and Associate Editor Kevin Sellner.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, University of Delaware, 700 Pilottown Road, Lewes, DE, 19958, USA

    Jonathan H. Sharp & Allen R. Davis

  2. Marine Biogeochemistry Group, Ocean Research Institute, Minamidai 1-15-1, Nakano, Tokyo, 164-8639, Japan

    Kohei Yoshiyama

  3. Romberg-Tiburon Center, San Francisco State University, 3152 Paradise Drive, Tiburon, CA, 94920, USA

    Alexander E. Parker

  4. Department of Environmental Studies, University of West Florida, 11000 University Parkway, Pensacola, FL, 32514, USA

    Matthew C. Schwartz

  5. School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Hawaii, 1000 Pope Rd., Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA

    Susan E. Curless

  6. Department of Environmental Sciences, Northwest Florida State College, 100 College Boulevard, Niceville, FL, 32578, USA

    Allison Y. Beauregard

  7. Department of Chemistry and Marine Chemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA

    Justin E. Ossolinski

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  1. Jonathan H. Sharp
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Sharp, J.H., Yoshiyama, K., Parker, A.E. et al. A Biogeochemical View of Estuarine Eutrophication: Seasonal and Spatial Trends and Correlations in the Delaware Estuary. Estuaries and Coasts 32, 1023–1043 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-009-9210-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-009-9210-8

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