Free Standard AU & NZ Shipping For All Book Orders Over $80!
Register      Login
Marine and Freshwater Research Marine and Freshwater Research Society
Advances in the aquatic sciences
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > MF > MF08030
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 61(6)

Dispersal of suspended sediments and nutrients in the Great Barrier Reef lagoon during river-discharge events: conclusions from satellite remote sensing and concurrent flood-plume sampling

Jon Brodie A D , Thomas Schroeder B , Ken Rohde C , John Faithful A , Bronwyn Masters C , Arnold Dekker B , Vittorio Brando B and Mirjam Maughan A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Australian Centre for Tropical Freshwater Research, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld 4810, Australia.

B CSIRO Land and Water, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.

C Department of Environment and Resource Management, Mackay, Qld 4740, Australia.

D Corresponding author. Email: jon.brodie@jcu.edu.au

Marine and Freshwater Research 61(6) 651-664 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF08030
Submitted: 12 February 2008  Accepted: 3 December 2009   Published: 25 June 2010

Abstract

Intense wet-season rainfall in January 2005 caused rivers in the Mackay–Whitsunday region of Queensland, Australia, to produce large discharges to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) lagoon. The regional land use is dominated by sugarcane cultivation, beef grazing and urban uses. The high nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) fluxes from these land uses via river runoff produced a massive phytoplankton bloom in the GBR lagoon, which, after 9 days, had spread 150 km offshore. The plume and algal bloom surrounded inner-shelf reefs of the GBR such as Brampton Island Reef and its spread was tracked with a variety of satellite sensors including MODIS, SeaWiFS and Landsat over the 9-day period. The ability to be able to access imagery from a large number of satellite sensors allowed almost daily estimates of the extent of plume to be made, despite periods of cloud. Analysis of water samples from the plume revealed elevated (2–50 times higher) concentrations of Chlorophyll a (and hence phytoplankton biomass), up to 50 times higher than in non-flood conditions, nutrients (2–100 times higher) and herbicide residues (10–100 times higher) compared with GBR lagoon waters in non-discharge conditions. The concentration data from the samples and estimated exposure periods from the satellite images allowed estimates of the exposure of GBR marine ecosystems (coral reefs, the pelagic community, seagrass beds and mangrove forests) to the terrestrial contaminants to be made.

Additional keywords: flood plumes, Great Barrier Reef, nutrients, phytoplankton bloom, remote sensing, suspended sediments.


Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Australian Government’s Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility, implemented in northern Queensland by the Reef and Rainforest Research Centre Ltd. Funding for this study was provided by the CSIRO Wealth from Oceans Flagship project. We also acknowledge the MODIS and SeaWiFS mission scientists and associated NASA personnel for the production of the data used in this research effort. Support for the water quality sampling and analysis was received from the Mackay Whitsunday Natural Resource Management group (now called Reef Catchments). Support was also received from the CSIRO Water for a Healthy Country Flagship Program and the Australian Government’s Natural Heritage Trust.


References

Andrefouet, S. , Mumby, P. J. , McField, M. , Hu, C. , and Muller-Karger, F. E. (2002). Revisiting coral reef connectivity. Coral Reefs 21, 43–48.
APHA (American Public Health Association, American Water Works Association, Water Environment Federation) (1998). Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, 1998 Edition, Method No. 2450D, Washington, DC, USA.

Bainbridge, Z. , Faithful, J. , Lewis, S. , and Brodie, J. (2009). Identifying the land-based sources of suspended sediments, nutrients and pesticides discharged to the Great Barrier Reef from the Tully basin, Queensland, Australia. Marine and Freshwater Research 60, 1081–1090.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | Brodie J. (2004). Mackay Whitsunday region: state of the waterways. ACTFR technical report no. 02/03, Australian Centre for Tropical Freshwater Research, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland. Available at http://cms.jcu.edu.au/idc/groups/public/documents/technical_report/jcudev_015439.pdf [verified 11 May 2010].

Brodie J. E., and Mitchell A. W. (1992). Nutrient composition of the January (1991) Fitzroy River flood plume. In ‘Workshop on the Impacts of Flooding. GBRMPA Workshop Series No. 17’. (Ed. G. T. Byron.) pp. 56–74. (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority: Townsville, Queensland.)

Brodie, J. , and Mitchell, A. (2005). Nutrients in Australian tropical rivers: changes with agricultural development and implications for receiving environments. Marine and Freshwater Research 56, 279–302.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | Brodie J., Faithful J., and Cullen K. (2004). Community water quality monitoring in the Burdekin River catchment and estuary: 2002–2004. ACTFR technical report no. 03/16, Australian Centre for Tropical Freshwater Research, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland.

Brodie, J. , De’ath, G. , Devlin, M. , Furnas, M. , and Wright, M. (2007). Spatial and temporal patterns of near-surface Chlorophyll a in the Great Barrier Reef lagoon. Marine and Freshwater Research 58, 342–353.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | Devlin M., Waterhouse J., Taylor J., and Brodie J. (2001). Flood plumes in the Great Barrier Reef: spatial and temporal patterns in composition and distribution. GBRMPA research publication no. 68, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Townsville, Queensland.

Devlin M., Brodie J., Waterhouse J., Mitchell A., Audas D., and Haynes D. (2003). Exposure of Great Barrier Reef inner-shelf reefs to river-borne contaminants. In ‘Proceedings of the 2nd National Conference on Aquatic Environments: Sustaining our Aquatic Environments – Implementing Solutions’. Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Brisbane.

Eyre, B. (2000). Regional evaluation of nutrient transformation and phytoplankton growth in nine river-dominated sub-tropical east Australian estuaries. Marine Ecology Progress Series 205, 61–83.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | Furnas M. (2003). ‘Catchments and Corals: Terrestrial Runoff to the Great Barrier Reef.’ (Australian Institute of Marine Science and CRC Reef Research Centre: Townsville, Queensland.)

Furnas, M. , Mitchell, A. , Skuza, M. , and Brodie, J. (2005). In the other 90%: phytoplankton responses to enhanced nutrient availability in the Great Barrier Reef Lagoon. Marine Pollution Bulletin 51, 253–265.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | PubMed | King B., McAllister F., Wolanski E., Done T., and Spagnol S. (2001). River plume dynamics in the central Great Barrier Reef. In ‘Oceanographic Processes of Coral reefs: Physical and Biological Links in the Great Barrier Reef’. (Ed. E. Wolanski.) pp. 145–160. (CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL.)

Koop, K. , Hutchings, P. A. , Hoegh-Guldberg, O. , Booth, D. , and Brodie, J. , et al. (2001). ENCORE: the effects of nutrient enrichment on coral reefs. Synthesis of results and conclusions. Marine Pollution Bulletin 42, 91–120.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | PubMed | Rohde K., Masters B., Brodie J., Faithful J., Noble R., Carroll C., and Shaw C., Dekker A., and Brando V. (2006). ‘Fresh and Marine Water Quality in the Mackay Whitsunday Region, 2004/2005.’ (Mackay Whitsunday Natural Resource Management Group: Mackay, Queensland.)

Sheng, J. , Wang, L. , Andréfouët, S. , Hu, C. , Hatcher, B. G. , Muller-Karger, F. E. , Kjerfve, B. , Heyman, W. D. , and Yang, B. (2007). Upper ocean response of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System to Hurricane Mitch and coastal freshwater inputs: a study using sea-viewing wide field-of-view sensor (SeaWiFS) ocean color data and a nested-grid ocean circulation model. Journal of Geophysical Research 112, C07016.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Soto, I. , Andréfouët, S. , Hu, C. , Muller-Karger, F. E. , Wall, C. C. , Sheng, J. , and Hatcher, B. G. (2009). Physical connectivity in the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System inferred from 9 years of ocean color observations. Coral Reefs 28, 415–425.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Turner, R. E. , Rabalais, N. N. , and Nan, Z. Z. (1990). Phytoplankton biomass, production and growth limitations on the Huanghe (Yellow) River continental shelf. Continental Shelf Research 10, 545–571.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

van Woesik, R. , Tomascik, T. , and Blake, S. (1999). Coral assemblages and physico-chemical characteristics of the Whitsunday Islands: evidence of recent community changes. Marine and Freshwater Research 50, 427–440.


Ward, S. , and Harrison, P. (2000). Changes in gametogenesis and fecundity of acroporid corals that were exposed to elevated nitrogen and phosphorus during the ENCORE experiment. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 246, 179–221.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | PubMed |

Wolanski, E. , and Jones, M. (1981). Physical properties of Great Barrier Reef Lagoon waters near Townsville. I. Effects of Burdekin River floods. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 32, 305–319.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Wolanski, E. , and van Senden, D. (1983). Mixing of Burdekin river floodwaters in the Great Barrier Reef. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 34, 49–63.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |