Diatoms Control Nutrient Cycles in a Temperate, Wave-dominated Estuary (Southeast Australia)

Diatoms are important primary producers within pelagic, benthic end epiphytic communities and their siliceous frustule leads to rapid sinking to the sediment. As a consequence, diatoms play a critical role in nutrient and carbon cycles in shallow and deep water environments. In this study, benthic nutrient and gas fluxes, water column and sediment properties were studied in a coastal lagoon of south-eastern Australia to identify control mechanisms coupling benthic and pelagic processes, in particular, how nutrients become fractionated by processes affecting benthic nutrient fluxes. During late spring, the water column of St. Georges Basin was oligotrophic, primary production was likely P limited and the phytoplankton community was dominated by cyanophytes. Molar ratios of TCO2 : Si benthic fluxes, however, were equal to the molar composition of diatoms suggesting that diatoms preferentially sink and deliver the most labile organic matter fraction to the sediment. The congruent release of Si and C implies a coupling of processes mobilizing Si and C. It is argued that extracellular polymeric substances surrounding the silicious frustule are the primary labile organic matter fraction and their rate of mineralization limits the dissolution of the silicious frustule. As decomposing biomass in sediments lead to net N2-production and very efficient burial of P, the fate of diatoms significantly contribute to the removal of bioavailable nutrients. High DIN:DIP benthic flux ratios of 290 to 900 promote P limitation particularly in shallow water bodies with long water residence times.

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Identification info

Date (Publication)
2007-01-01T00:00:00
Citation identifier
Geoscience Australia Persistent Identifier/https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/64870

Cited responsible party
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Author

Haese, R.R.

 1
Author

Murray, E.J.

 2
Author

Smith, C.S.

 3
Author

Smith, J.

 4
Author

Clementson, L.

 5
Point of contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Custodian

EGD
Owner

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Custodian

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

 Voice
Topic category
  • Geoscientific information

Extent

N
S
E
W


Maintenance and update frequency
Unknown
Keywords

  • External Publication

  • Scientific Journal Paper

Theme

  • geochemistry

  • AEM

  • marine

Keywords

  • AU-QLD

Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)

  • Earth Sciences

Keywords

  • Published_External

Resource constraints

Title

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence

Alternate title

CC-BY

Edition

4.0

Website

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/

Access constraints
License
Use constraints
License

Resource constraints

Title

Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem

Edition date
2018-11-01T00:00:00
Website

https://www.protectivesecurity.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx

Classification
Unclassified
Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8

Distribution Information

Distributor contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Distributor

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

 Voice
OnLine resource

Related Product

Download the article Diatoms control nutrient cycles in a temperate, wave-dominated estuary (southeast Australia) from Limnology and Oceanography [PDF 1.8MB]

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Statement

Unknown

Hierarchy level
Non geographic dataset
Other

External Publication

Description

Source data not available.

Metadata constraints

Title

Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem

Edition date
2018-11-01T00:00:00
Website

https://www.protectivesecurity.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx

Classification
Unclassified

Metadata

Metadata identifier
urn:uuid/a05f7892-cee9-7506-e044-00144fdd4fa6

Title

GeoNetwork UUID

Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8
Contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Point of contact

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

 Voice

Type of resource

Resource scope
Document
Name

nonGeographicDataset

Alternative metadata reference

Title

Geoscience Australia - short identifier for metadata record with

uuid

Citation identifier
eCatId/64870

Metadata linkage

https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/a05f7892-cee9-7506-e044-00144fdd4fa6

Date info (Revision)
2018-04-22T08:32:15
Date info (Creation)
2006-08-18T00:00:00

Metadata standard

Title

AU/NZS ISO 19115-1:2014

Metadata standard

Title

ISO 19115-1:2014

Metadata standard

Title

ISO 19115-3

Title

Geoscience Australia Community Metadata Profile of ISO 19115-1:2014

Edition

Version 2.0, September 2018

Citation identifier
https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/122551

 
 

Spatial extent

N
S
E
W


Keywords

AEM geochemistry marine

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