Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Temperature Control on Soluble Reactive Phosphorus in the Lower Mississippi River?

  • Published:
Estuaries and Coasts Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) has recently been shown to be one of the limiting nutrients for the growth of phytoplankton in the northern Gulf of Mexico. We show here that during the past decade, SRP concentrations in the lower reaches of North America's largest river, the Mississippi River, were highest in summer and lowest in winter and positively correlated with water temperature. Upstream data showed this coupling to increase in a downstream trend in the Mississippi main stem. Water quality data analysis and phosphorus mass balances were conducted to examine the controls of this relationship. The results showed that the positive SRP–temperature correlation in the Mississippi River system was largely a result of gradual dilution of SRP-enriched upper Mississippi River waters, which contributed most to the Mississippi River during summer, by SRP-depleted waters from the Ohio and other tributaries. Particle buffering and organic matter mineralization might play a role in the observed SRP–temperature relationship, but their importance relative to tributary effects is not quantified. Future work on the seasonal dynamics of SRP in large river systems needs to consider the effects of both tributary dilution and in situ processes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allison, M.A., T.S. Bianchi, B.A. McKee, and T.P. Sampere. 2007. Carbon burial on river-dominated continental shelves: Impact of historical changes in sediment loading adjacent to the Mississippi River. Geophysical Research Letter 34, L01606, doi:10.1029/2006GL028362

  • Ammerman, J.W., and J.B. Sylvan. 2004. Phosphorus limitation of phytoplankton growth in the Mississippi River plume—a case for dual nutrient control?: EOS Transactions AGU, v. 85, no. 47, Fall Meeting Supplement, Abstract OS11B-07.

  • Aulenbach, B.T., H.T. Buxton, W.A. Battaglin, and R.H Coupe. 2007. Streamflow nutrient fluxes of the Mississippi–Atchafalaya River Basin and subbasins for period of record through 2005: US Geological Survey Open-File Report 2007. http://toxics.usgs.gov/pubs/of-2007-1080/index.html.

  • Barrow, N.J. 1979. 3 Effects of temperature on the reactions between inorganic-phosphate and soil. Journal of Soil Science 30: 271–279.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Barrow, N.J. 1983. A mechanistic model for describing the sorption and desorption of phosphate by soil. Journal of Soil Science 34: 733–750.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, G.M., R.E. Broshears, and R.R. Hooper. 2002. Evaluating the influence of source basins on downstream water quality in the Mississippi River. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 38: 803–818.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Corbett, D.R., M. Dail, and B. Mckee. 2007. High-frequency time-series of the dynamic sedimentation processes on the western shelf of the Mississippi River Delta. Continental Shelf Research 27: 1600–1615.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dagg, M.J., and G.A. Breed. 2003. Biological effects of Mississippi River nitrogen on the northern Gulf of Mexico—a review and synthesis. Journal of Marine Systems 43: 133–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dagg, M.J., T.S. Bianchi, G.A. Breed, W.J. Cai, S. Duan, H. Liu, B.A. McKee, R.T. Powel, and C.M. Stewart. 2005. Biogeochemical characteristics of the lower Mississippi River, USA, during June 2003. Estuaries 28: 664–674.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Devol, A.H., B.R. Forsberg, J.E. Richey, and T.P. Pimentel. 1995. Seasonal-variation in chemical-distributions in the Amazon (Solomoes) river—a multiyear time-series. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 9: 307–328.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Donner, S.D., and D. Scavia. 2007. How climate controls the flux of nitrogen by the Mississippi River and the development of hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. Limnology and Oceanography 52: 856–861.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Duan, S.W., and T.S. Bianchi. 2006. Seasonal changes in the abundance and composition of plant pigments in particulate organic carbon in the lower Mississippi and Pearl rivers (USA). Estuaries and Coasts 29: 427–442.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Evans, D.J., and P. Johnes. 2004. Physico-chemical controls on phosphorus cycling in two lowland streams. Part 1—the water column. Science of the Total Environment 329: 145–163.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fox, L.E. 1991. Phosphorus chemistry in the tidal Hudson River. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 55: 1529–1538.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fox, L.E., S.L. Sager, and S.C. Wofsy. 1985. Factors controlling the concentration of soluble phosphorus in the Mississippi Estuary. Limnology and Oceanography 30: 826–832.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Froelich, P.N. 1988. Kinetic control of dissolved phosphate in natural rivers and estuaries—a primer on the phosphate buffer mechanism. Limnology and Oceanography 33: 649–668.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • House, W.A. 1999. The physico-chemical conditions for the precipitation of phosphate with calcium. Environmental Technology 20: 727–733.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • House, W.A., and F. Denison. 1997. Nutrient dynamics in a lowland stream impacted by sewage effluent: Great Ouse, England. Science of the Total Environment 205: 25–49.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • James, W.F., and J.W. Barko. 2004. Diffusive fluxes and equilibrium processes in relation to phosphorus dynamics in the Upper Mississippi River. River Research and Applications 20: 473–484.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larson, S.J., P.D. Capel, D.A. Goolsby, S.D. Zaugg, and M.W. Sandstrom. 1995. Relations between pesticide use and riverine flux in the Mississippi River basin. Chemosphere 31: 3305–3321.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Laznik, M., P. Stalnacke, A. Grimvall, and H.B. Wittgren. 1999. Riverine input of nutrients to the Gulf of Riga—temporal and spatial variation. Journal of Marine Systems 23: 11–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lohrenz, S.E., G.L. Fahnenstiel, D.G. Redalje, G.A. Lang, M.J. Dagg, T.E. Whitledge, and Q. Dortch. 1999. Nutrients, irradiance, and mixing as factors regulating primary production in coastal waters impacted by the Mississippi River plume. Continental Shelf Research 19: 1113–1141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moody, J.A., and D.A. Goolsby. 1993. Spatial variability of triazine herbicides in the lower Mississippi River. Environmental Science and Technology 27: 2120–2126.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Prakash, K.H., R. Kumar, C.P. Ooi, P. Cheang, and K.A. Khor. 2006. Apparent solubility of hydroxyapatite in aqueous medium and its influence on the morphology of nanocrystallites with precipitation temperature. Langmur 22: 11002–11008.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rabalais, N.N., R.E. Turner, and W.J. Wiseman. 2001. Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. Journal of Environmental Quality 30: 320–329.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rabalais, N.N., R.E. Turner, Q. Dortch, D. Justic, V.J. Bierman, and W.J. Wiseman. 2002. Nutrient-enhanced productivity in the northern Gulf of Mexico: past, present and future. Hydrobiologia 475: 39–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Russell, M.A., D.E. Walling, B.W. Webb, and R. Bearne. 1998. The composition of nutrient fluxes from contrasting UK river basins. Hydrological Processes 12: 1461–1482.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Santschi, P.H. 1995. Seasonality of nutrient concentrations in Galveston Bay. Marine Environmental Research 40: 337–362.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schulz, M., and C. Herzog. 2004. The influence of sorption processes on the phosphorus mass balance in a eutrophic German lowland river. Water Air and Soil Pollution 155: 291–301.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sutula, M., T.S. Bianchi, and B.A. McKee. 2004. Effect of seasonal sediment storage in the lower Mississippi River on the flux of reactive particulate phosphorus to the Gulf of Mexico. Limnology and Oceanography 49: 2223–2235.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shiller, A.M. 1997. Dissolved trace elements in the Mississippi river: seasonal, interannual, and decadal variability. Geochemica et Cosmochimica 61: 4321–4330.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sylvan, J.B., Q. Dortch, D.M. Nelson, A.F.M. Brown, W. Morrison, and J.W. Ammerman. 2006. Phosphorus limits phytoplankton growth on the Louisiana shelf during the period of hypoxia formation. Environmental Science & Technology 40: 7548–7553.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Teissier, S., S. Sauvage, P. Vervier, F. Garabetian, and J.-M. Sanchez-Perez. 2008. A mass-balance approach to estimate in-stream processes in a large river. Hydrological Processes 22: 420–428.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Turner, R.E., N.N. Rabalais, and D. Justic. 2006. Predicting summer hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico: riverine N, P, and Si loading. Marine Pollution Bulletin 52: 139–148.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • White, P.A., J. Kalff, J.B. Rasmussen, and J.M. Gasol. 1991. The effect of temperature and algal biomass on bacterial production and specific growth-rate in fresh-water and marine habitats. Microbial Ecology 21: 99–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was funded by a postdoctoral fellowship granted to Shuiwang Duan through the Texas Institute of Oceanography of Texas A&M University at Galveston. Additional support included grants from the National Science Foundation to Rainer Amon (0425582) and the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality to Robin Brinkmeyer, Rainer Amon, and John Schwarz (582-5-72502-08). We also thank Allan Shiller, Hans Paerl, Mike Dagg, Rebecca Green, and several other anonymous reviewers for their suggestion to improve this manuscript.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Shuiwang Duan

    Present address: Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Solomons, MD, 20688, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marine Sciences, Texas A&M University at Galveston, Galveston, TX, 77551, USA

    Shuiwang Duan, Rainer Amon & Peter H. Santschi

  2. Department of Oceanography, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

    Thomas S. Bianchi

Authors
  1. Shuiwang Duan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Rainer Amon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Thomas S. Bianchi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Peter H. Santschi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shuiwang Duan.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Electronic Supplementary Material (ESM

Correlations between SRP concentration of the Mississippi River at Thebes and St. Francisville and SRP concentration or percentage of water contribution from upstream tributaries. USGS sites for the Mississippi River and primary tributaries are shown in Fig. 1 (DOCX 74 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Duan, S., Amon, R., Bianchi, T.S. et al. Temperature Control on Soluble Reactive Phosphorus in the Lower Mississippi River?. Estuaries and Coasts 34, 78–89 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-010-9284-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-010-9284-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation