ron speciation and biogeochemistry in different nearshore waters

Different environmental conditions in various nearshore waters dynamically determine the speciation of iron, its solubility, removal and hence bioavailability to phytoplankton. The iron speciation, the impact of phytoplankton blooms and the effects of organic matter on iron speciation and transformation were studied in four different coastal systems: the Trondheim Fjord, Norway, which is a coastal system that is open to a vast riverine impact; Hopevågen, Norway, a pristine coastal basin, which has negligible river and anthropogenic impact; zmir Bay, Turkey, a Mediterranean embayment with heavily polluted eutrophic inner–middle section, and the oligotrophic outer section. In this paper, we compare iron speciation in these different coastal systems. While colloidal iron (ColFe) was the predominant species especially in the Trondheim Fjord and to some degree also in Hopavågen, Chelex labile iron (ClxLFe) and hydrophobic organic-iron complex (HpOFe) were predominate species in both the inner–middle and the outer section of zmir Bay. The impact of phytoplankton blooms on the ClxLFe was significant especially in the Trondheim Fjord, in the inner–middle section of zmir Bay and in Hopevågen.