Title: Water, Salt and Stoichiometrically linked nutrient budget for Chwaka Bay, Tanzania
Authors: Ngusaru, A.S.; Mohammed, M.S.
Abstract: The water and salt balance at Chwaka Bay in Zanzibar, Tanzania suggests that in order to balance the inflow and outflow of water, there must be a net flux of water from the bay to the open ocean during both the dry and wet seasons. The corresponding salt residual fluxes indicate advective salt export. However, exchange between the bay water with the open ocean replaces this exported salt via mixing. The freshwater residence times at Chwaka Bay are 24 days for dry and 37 days for wet season. The budgets for non-conservative materials indicate a net dissolved inorganic phosphorous (DIP) and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) flux from the bay to the ocean during wet season. The calculated DIPsyst and DINsyst suggest that the bay acts as a DIP and DIN source during the wet season. Stoichiometry calculations suggest that (p-r) is negative, indicating that Chwaka Bay is net heterotrophic during wet season. The inner bay seems to have net denitrification, but the outer bay seems to be fixing nitrogen at a slower rate. However, the entire bay appears to balance nitrogen fixing and denitrification.
Description: Research Group: University of Dar es Salaam, Institute of Marine Sciences, P.O. Box 668, Zanzibar, Tanzania
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