Northern Large Marine Domain

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Northern Large Marine Domain Collation and Analysis of Oceanographic Datasets for National Marine Bioregionalisation: The Northern Large Marine Domain. A report to the Australian Government, National Oceans Office. May 2005 CSIRO Marine Research Peter Rothlisberg Scott Condie Donna Hayes Brian Griffiths Steve Edgar Jeff Dunn Cover Image designed by Vincent Lyne CSIRO Marine Researchi Cover Design Lea Crosswell and Louise Bell CSIRO Marine Research Collation and Analysis of Oceanographic Datasets – The Northern Large Marine Domain Contents Contents...........................................................................................................................................i List of Figures.................................................................................................................................ii 1. Summary................................................................................................................................1 2. Project Objectives..................................................................................................................2 3. Background............................................................................................................................2 4. Data Storage and Metadata....................................................................................................2 5 Setting for the Northern Large Marine Domain ....................................................................3 5.1 Geomorphology..............................................................................................................4 5.2 Climatic conditions.........................................................................................................6 6. Water Properties: CARS........................................................................................................7 6.1 Temperature....................................................................................................................9 6.2 Salinity............................................................................................................................9 6.3 Dissolved oxygen...........................................................................................................9 6.4 Nutrients .......................................................................................................................13 7. Tides and circulation: model results....................................................................................15 7.1 Tides .............................................................................................................................15 7.2 Seasonal circulation patterns ........................................................................................15 8. Phytoplankton related characteristics ..................................................................................18 8.1 Photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) ...................................................................18 8.2 Chlorophyll distributions..............................................................................................20 8.3 Primary Production.......................................................................................................22 9. Zooplankton.........................................................................................................................24 9.1 Zooplankton total biomass............................................................................................25 9.2 Prawn larval density .....................................................................................................25 10. Albatross Bay case study.....................................................................................................30 10.2 Chlorophyll-a concentrations .......................................................................................32 10.3 Primary productivity.....................................................................................................32 10.4 Zooplankton biomass...........................................................................................................34 10.5 Copepod abundance......................................................................................................34 10.6 Prawn larval density .....................................................................................................37 11. Recommendations for future research.................................................................................40 References ....................................................................................................................................41 Appendix Products List ................................................................................................................44 The Northern Large Marine Domain ....................................................................................44 Case Study: Albatross Bay....................................................................................................54 i Collation and Analysis of Oceanographic Datasets – The Northern Large Marine Domain Figures Figure 1 Map of northern Australia with the Northern Large Marine Domain (NLMD) delineated by red dashed lines. .........................................................................................................................................3 Figure 2. Bathymetry contours from the National 250m Bathymetry Grid (Geoscience Australia) ...........4 Figure 3 Geomorphic Features of the Northern Large Marine Domain (Harris et al. 2005). ......................5 Figure 4 Seasonal wind vectors at a height of 10 m above sea-level: (a) Across the NLMD during the wet season (January) and dry season (July); (b) At one location in the Gulf of Carpentaria (138.8°E, 16.2°S). The seasonal vectors were derived by averaging the NCEP-NCAR Reanalysis winds (Kalnay et al. 1996) over the years 1982 to 1997. ...............................................................................6 Figure 5 Darwin monthly rainfall and number of raindays (wet season = October to April) (reproduced with permission from the Bureau of Meteorology http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi- bin/climate/cgi_bin_scripts/map_script_new.cg).................................................................................7 Figure 6. CSIRO Atlas of Regional Seas (CARS) spatial and temporal (colour coded for day of year) coverage of individual casts: (a) Nitrate; (b) Phosphate; (c) Oxygen; (d) Silicate; (e) Temperature; and (f) Salinity......................................................................................................................................8 Figure 7. Near-surface water temperature from CARS: (a) Wet season (January); (b) Dry season (July). ............................................................................................................................................................10 Figure 8. Satellite derived monthly mean sea surface temperature: (a) Wet season (January); (b) Dry season (July).......................................................................................................................................11 Figure 9. Annual mean near-surface salinity from CARS. ........................................................................12 Figure 10. Annual mean near-surface dissolved oxygen from CARS. ......................................................12 Figure 11. Annual mean near-surface dissolved nitrate from CARS.........................................................13 Figure 13. Annual mean near-surface dissolved silicate from CARS. ......................................................14 Figure 14. Maximum tidal sea level range as estimated by a hydrodynamic model of the region............16 Figure 15. Maximum bottom stress as estimated by a hydrodynamic model of the region.......................16 Figure 16 Monthly mean depth-averaged currents: (a) Wet Season (January); (b) Dry Season (July). ....17 Figure 17. Incident light: (a) Wet season; (b) Dry season ........................................................................19 Figure 18. MODIS remotely sensed monthly mean chlorophyll: (a) January; (b) July. MODIS satellite chlorophyll values in waters less than 20m deep need to be interpreted with caution because of interference from coloured dissolved organic matter, particulate matter and suspended sediments brought into the near-shore regions by river inflow...........................................................................21 Figure 20. Gulf of Carpentaria sampling array for zooplankton and larval penaeid prawns Data collected from 15 cruises (9 in the dry season and 7 in the wet season) over 3 years (1975-1978)..................24 Figure 21. Total zooplankton biomass g (dry weight) m-2 : (a) Wet season; (b) Dry season. Data collected from 10 cruises (6 in the dry season and 5 in the wet season) over 3 years (1975-1977)...26 Figure 22. Penaeid prawn larval density (larvae m-2) for all species combined: (a) Wet season; (b) Dry season .................................................................................................................................................27 Figure 23. Commercial penaeid prawn larval density (larvae m-2): (a) Wet season; (b) Dry season. .......28 Figure 24. Commercial penaeid prawn catch (ton) for years 1975 - 1977: (a) Wet season; (b) Dry season. ............................................................................................................................................................29
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