Seasonal Water Quality in the Swan River Estuary, Western Australia

Western Australia's Swan River estuary seasonal water quality data from two sites. The dataset examines variations in major ions, nutrients, and chlorophyll a, influenced by riverine discharge and salinity. Data includes temperature (13-29°C), salinity (3-30), and nutrient ratios, suggesting nitrogen as a primary limiting factor for phytoplankton.

Use Cases

• Modeling nutrient limitation for phytoplankton growth based on reported N:P ratios (3-8).
• Analyzing the impact of seasonal river discharge and salt wedge propagation on water column stratification.
• Investigating relationships between anoxia, ammonium, and phosphate concentrations in bottom waters.
• Studying the influence of groundwater flow on sediment porewater nutrient transport.

Strengths

• Data captures a wide intra-annual temperature range (13-29°C) and salinity range (3-30).
• Description details specific physico-chemical processes like salt wedge propagation and flocculation.
• Analysis includes nutrient ratios (N:P of 3-8) to identify potential limiting factors for growth.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the two specific sites in the Swan River estuary.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Seasonal examination of water samples at two sites in the upper Swan River estuary.

Time Range

Seasonal variations (intra-annual), specific years not stated.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-10 16:46:11.327823; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Two sites in the upper reaches of the Swan River estuary, Western Australia.