Benthic Nutrient Recycling Measurements in Port Phillip Bay, Australia, 1994-1995

Benthic chamber measurements of oxygen, ammonium, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, silicate, TCO2, and alkalinity define solute exchange rates between sediment and water in Port Phillip Bay, Australia. Data from various sites during the summers of 1994 and 1995 show benthic recycling accounted for 63% and 72% of annualized N and P input to the entire bay, respectively. The dataset was contributed by the Australian Ocean Data Network and was last updated on the platform in 2026.

Use Cases

• Modeling coastal nutrient budgets based on benthic recycling rates for nitrogen and phosphorus.
• Comparing regional denitrification efficiency based on measurements across four distinct bay regions.
• Studying bio-irrigation impacts on solute exchange using radon-222 and CsCl spike injection results.
• Analyzing spatial variability in sediment-water flux based on measurements from various sites throughout the bay.

Strengths

• Includes measurements from multiple sites across four distinct regions of Port Phillip Bay.
• Provides quantified nutrient regeneration rates, with the northern region showing 3-30 times greater rates.
• Covers two sampling years (1994 and 1995), allowing assessment of year-to-year variability reported as ±50%.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale modeling.
• Data freshness should be verified; last platform update was 2026-06-23 but core data is from the mid-1990s.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Benthic chamber measurements of reactants and products involved with biogenic matter remineralization.

Time Range

Summers of 1994 and 1995

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-23 05:51:38.495151; core data is from 1994-1995.

Geography

Port Phillip Bay, Australia