Hi all,
The Neuse is an estuary again, a strongly salinity, stratified estuary with hypoxic bottom waters. The hypoxic zone stretched from just downstream of New Bern to the mouth. A zone of high chlorophyll with a subsurface maximum at ~1 m depth was detected from stations 20 to 70. Microscopic examination of surface waters from station 50 revealed a community dominated by freshwater diatoms, primarily Aulacoseira.
Until the next trip,
Nathan
Hi all,
Not much has changed on the Neuse. It’s still much fresher than normal. There is a small bolus of high salinity bottom water at station 160, but that’s likely intruding from the intercoastal waterway. High chlorophyll (~30 ug/L) and turbidity occurred near the surface at station 100, and microscopy identified high concentrations of the diatom Aulacoseira sp., and a high concentrations of several cryptophyte species. These phytoplankton are non-toxic and considered “good” phytoplankton that tend to contribute energy to higher trophic levels.
Best regards,
Nathan Hall
Hi all,
For the first time since Hurricane Florence, the estuary has some salt upstream of the bend at Cherry Point (station 120). The lower estuary is moderately stratified but the water is still cool and dissolved oxygen is > 8 mg/L throughout the estuary. There was a front between stations 60 and 70 with strong downstream gradients of temperature, pH, Chlorophyll fluorescence, and a spike in turbidity at station 70.
Best,
Nathan
Hi all,
With flows just above average, the Neuse is starting to look more like an estuary, a really fresh estuary but at least with some salt at all the lower stations. Moderate chlorophyll values of ~20 were patchily distributed throughout the mid/lower estuary.
Best regards, Nathan
Hi all,
Unbelievably, the estuary is fresher now than what we measured ten days after Hurricane Florence. Temperatures are cool and DO is high throughout the estuary. chl-a was generally less than 20 throughout the estuary except for a thin aggregation along the pycnocline at the lower stations. The dinoflagellate, Prorocentrum minimum, is famous for this and has been abundant for the last few trips.
Best,
Nathan
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