Date of Award

8-1-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Coastal Marine and Wetland Studies

Department

Coastal and Marine Systems Science

College

College of Science

First Advisor

Diane Fribance

Second Advisor

Angelos Hannides

Third Advisor

Lindsey Bell

Abstract

Coastal buoyant plumes carry low-salinity waters containing particulate and dissolved terrestrial materials with an abundance of nutrients into the coastal ocean, including inorganic nitrogen and phosphorous. Plume fronts act as transport barriers created from the convergence of a fresher plume with an older, saltier plume or with ambient waters, leading to potential accumulation of phytoplankton and nutrients. This accumulation creates an optimal environment for primary production. The primary goals of this study were: to investigate the distribution of and potential relationships between nutrient concentrations and chlorophyll a across plume fronts of the Winyah Bay River Plume, and examine potential relationships of nutrient concentrations with temperature and salinity. Water samples were collected during May and June of 2024 onboard the R/V Coastal Explorer and Savannah. These samples were then filtered for chlorophyll and analyzed for nutrient and chlorophyll a concentrations. Supplemental data, including temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen were also collected to provide additional context. The nutrient and chlorophyll a concentrations across the fronts were assessed using Wilcoxon Rank Sum (Mann-Whitney U) tests, Vargha and Delaney A and Hodges-Lehmann estimators, and no significant difference was detected. Spearman’s rank correlations were used to determine the relationships between temperature and salinity; salinity was the only significant relationship, and was inversely correlated with both DIN and phosphate. Advancing the current knowledge of nutrient inputs to the coastal ocean could improve global model predictions of these parameters.

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