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Assessment of land influence on a high-latitude marine coastal system: Tierra del Fuego, southernmost Argentina

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Abstract

The study deals with the determination of physico-chemical parameters, inorganic nutrients, particulate organic matter, and photosynthetic pigments on a monthly basis during an annual cycle from nine sampling sites of the coastal zone of a high-latitude ecosystem (Tierra del Fuego, Argentina). Nitrites and phosphates concentrations were similar to other systems of the south Atlantic coast (median, 0.30 and 1.02 μM, respectively), while nitrates were higher in all sampling periods (median, 45.37 μM), and silicates were significantly smaller (median, 7.76 μM). Chlorophyll a and phaeopigments have shown median values of 0.38 and 0.85 mg m − 3, respectively, while saturated values of dissolved oxygen were recorded throughout the study. The analysis reflected that nutrient enrichment seems to be linked to an anthropogenic source, the presence of peatlands areas, and a sink of Nothofagus pumilio woods. The area could be characterized in three zones related to (1) high urban influence, (2) natural inputs of freshwater, and (3) mixed inputs coming from moderate urban impacts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas (CADIC)—CONICET, C.C.92, V9410BFD, Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

    Oscar Amin, Laura Comoglio & Claudia Duarte

  2. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía (IADO)—CONICET, Florida 4000, Edificio E1, C.C.804, 8000, Bahía Blanca, Argentina

    Carla Spetter, Raúl Asteasuain & Jorge Marcovecchio

  3. Departamento de Química, Universidad Nacional del Sur (UNS), Av. Alem 1251, 8000, Bahía Blanca, Argentina

    Carla Spetter & Rubén Hugo Freije

  4. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional—Facultad Regional Bahía Blanca (UTN-FRBB), 11 de Abril 445, 8000, Bahía Blanca, Argentina

    Jorge Marcovecchio

  5. Universidad FASTA, Gascón 3151, 7600, Mar del Plata, Argentina

    Jorge Marcovecchio

Authors
  1. Oscar Amin
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  2. Laura Comoglio
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  3. Carla Spetter
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  4. Claudia Duarte
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  5. Raúl Asteasuain
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  6. Rubén Hugo Freije
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  7. Jorge Marcovecchio
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Correspondence to Oscar Amin.

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Amin, O., Comoglio, L., Spetter, C. et al. Assessment of land influence on a high-latitude marine coastal system: Tierra del Fuego, southernmost Argentina. Environ Monit Assess 175, 63–73 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-010-1493-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-010-1493-5

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