Impact of runoff on nutrient patterns in northern Port Phillip Bay, Victoria

The Port Phillip Bay Environmental Study measured bay-wide nutrient and chlorophyll a distributions monthly for two years. This dataset focuses on nutrient variation in northern Port Phillip Bay during a high-runoff period in September 1993 and a low-runoff period in January 1995, collected via continuous profiling from a ship. Concentrations of ammonium, oxidised nitrogen, phosphate, and silicate are reported, with highest levels and variability observed on the northern and western perimeters during high runoff.

Use Cases

• Modeling nutrient source attribution based on ammonium/salinity and silicate/salinity relationships mentioned in the description.
• Analyzing spatial patterns of coastal pollution during different runoff conditions described for the bay's perimeter.
• Studying phytoplankton biomass response to freshwater inputs versus internal nutrient recycling as discussed for chlorophyll a levels.
• Comparing the relative impact of the Yarra/Maribyrnong River versus Werribee River sources during high precipitation events.

Strengths

• Data was collected via a continuous profiling technique allowing resolution of nutrient features over scales of about 200 meters.
• Provides comparative measurements for two distinct hydrological regimes: high runoff (September 1993) and low runoff (January 1995).
• Simultaneous collection of hydrographic and chlorophyll a data alongside nutrient measurements.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is from two specific months in 1993 and 1995; temporal coverage for continuous trends is limited.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, as part of the Port Phillip Bay Environmental Study.

Collection Method

Nutrients measured by flow-segmented colorimetric analysis on filtered seawater pumped aboard a ship.

Time Range

Includes data from September 1993 and January 1995.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-27 21:06:49.427566; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Northern Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, Australia.