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Contrasting controls of pH climatology in an open coast versus urban fjord estuary
Citation:
Pacella, S., C. Brown, TChris MochonCollura, AND G. Waldbusser. Contrasting controls of pH climatology in an open coast versus urban fjord estuary. Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation, Portland, OR, November 08 - 12, 2015.
Impact/Purpose:
This project contrasts the relative importance of physical, chemical, and biological processes to coastal acidification in two Pacific Northwest estuaries. It addresses how the relative importance of these processes may affect the effectiveness of future water quality management tools in different estuaries.
Description:
Interactions of physical, chemical, and biological processes in the coastal zone can result in a highly variable carbonate chemistry regime. This characteristic variability in coastal areas has garnered renewed interest within the context of ocean acidification, yet the relative importance of the processes driving this variability is less well characterized. To investigate the relative importance of processes affecting coastal carbonate chemistry variability, we present time series data from two contrasting Pacific Northwest estuaries – Yaquina Bay, OR and the Snohomish Delta, WA. We hypothesize that coastal ocean processes, including upwelling, dominate the pH signal in Yaquina Bay, while local biological processes, partially fueled by riverine delivery of nutrients and organic matter, are more important to Snohomish Delta pH variability. These differences amongst estuaries suggest the effectiveness of future water quality management tools (e.g. watershed management, carbon reductions) will depend upon the relative importance of processes affecting local carbonate climatology.