Distribution and characteristics of suspended particulate matter in a heavily eutrophic estuary, Tokyo Bay, Japan

Bulk suspended particulate matter (SPM), chlorophyll a (Chl a), ignition loss, particulate organic carbon (POC), organic nitrogen, inorganic phosphorus (PIP), and organic phosphorus were investigated in the heavily eutrophic Arakawa River estuary, Japan. Chl a was high ( 35 μg l−1) in summer and low ( 6.7 μg l−1) in winter and autumn. POC from living phytoplankton accounted for 34% and 70% of total POC during low- and high-biomass seasons, respectively. During the low-biomass season, detrital POC distribution was conservative, and less reactive, land-derived materials mainly composed particulate organic materials (POM), but complex mixing of land-derived POM and autochthonous planktonic detritus caused nonconservative detrital POC behavior during the high-biomass season. PIP concentration in SPM decreased with increasing salinity, likely by desorption of soluble orthophosphate (ortho-P). The ortho-P released from SPM, 56% of the ortho-P input from the Arakawa River to the bay, was a significant potential source of biologically available phosphorus causing eutrophication of coastal environments.