Surface chlorophyll patchiness across Sepanggar Bay: Relationships with turbidity and depth

Gallagher, John Barry and Chuan, Chee Hoe and Muhammad Shazwan Mohd Yusob and Chen, Nuo Gen and Goh, Yoke Mae (2016) Surface chlorophyll patchiness across Sepanggar Bay: Relationships with turbidity and depth. Transactions on Science and Technology, 3 (2). 421 -426. ISSN 2289-8786

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Abstract

The prevalence of harmful algal blooms (HABs), poses a considerable risk to public health and the livelihood of local fishers centred on Sepanggar Bay (Sabah). While HABs appear ostensibly during the NE Monsoon, there is no information on what may control their mesoscale distribution and production across Sepanggar Bay. For this study, we hypothesize that shallow sediment resuspension of a viable microphytobenthic population, along with potential germination of encysting harmful algae, control the mesoscale surface patchiness of chlorophyll-a across Sepanggar Bay. A ‘snap-shot’ over the NE Monsoon, of surface chlorophyll-a, together with turbidity and oxygen concentrations was produced from of 34 sampling stations chosen randomly across the bay’s regions. For rapid processing and measurement, chlorophyll-a, and turbidity were taken from surface colour reflectivity, using the phone app HydroColor™. The remaining variables surface temperature, salinity, and oxygen concentrations came from a probe. Both turbidity and chlorophyll-a showed considerable structure across the bay with depth. In general, there were good correlations between depth (inverse), turbidity (positive), and surface oxygen concentrations (positive) with chlorophyll-a across the bay, but with low chlorophyll-a outliers near a water village. The reasons behind the structure and the above correlations are elaborated in the paper.

Item Type: Article
Keyword: Chlorophyll-a , Reflectance HABs , Turbidity , Resuspension , Patchy distribution
Subjects: Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301-705.5 Biology (General) > QH540-549.5 Ecology
Q Science > QK Botany > QK1-989 Botany > QK504-(638) Cryptogams
Department: INSTITUTE > Borneo Marine Research Institute
Depositing User: SAFRUDIN BIN DARUN -
Date Deposited: 25 Feb 2022 17:12
Last Modified: 25 Feb 2022 17:12
URI: https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/31691

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