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Analysis of the relationship between phytoplankton biomass and the euphotic layer off Kuwait, Arabian Gulf

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Title Analysis of the relationship between phytoplankton biomass and the euphotic layer off Kuwait, Arabian Gulf
 
Creator Rao, D V Subba
Al-Yamani, Faiza
 
Description 416-423
The Kuwait Bay
is a shallow tidally well-mixed sub-tropical environment in the Arabian Gulf, and is characterized by excessive
evaporation, little freshwater input, and several anthropogenic disturbances
attendant with oil explorations. From the Gulf we examined 219 Secchi disc
readings and profiles of temperature, salinity, chlorophyll a, and
nutrients. Features of interest are: a) existence of marked differences in the
magnitude of phytoplankton biomass between the nearshore (3.8 -113.4 mg chi a
m-2) and offshore stations (4.5 - 57.9 mg chi a m-2), b)
lower algal biomass (18 .5 to 27.3 mg chi a m-2) at 3

inshore
stations located off an industrial belt compared to offshore waters (>42 mg
chi a m-2), c) absence of pronounced seasonal phytoplankton
growth and d) small increases in biomass sometime during March - May, August
and October - December. An analysis of the relationship between scaled critical
depth, integrated chlorophyll a and nutrients support the hypothesis
that phytoplankton biomass in Kuwait
waters, in general, was not restrained by physical environment. The correlation
coefficient (Spearman Rank) for the sign trend test between scaled critical depth
(Z'cr) and integrated chlorophyll a was

not significant at 10 stations
suggesting dependence of phytoplankton abundance on factor(s) other than light.
Only at an offshore station (#18) this correlation was negative and
significant. Light profiles yielded 83-275 W m-2 near the
bottom suggesting availability of sufficient light for algal growth in these
well-mixed sub-tropical shallow waters.
 
Date 2014-01-15T09:38:06Z
2014-01-15T09:38:06Z
1999-12
 
Type Article
 
Identifier 0975-1033 (Online); 0379-5136 (Print)
http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/25710
 
Language en_US
 
Rights CC Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India
 
Publisher NISCAIR-CSIR, India
 
Source IJMS Vol.28(4) [December 1999]