Dispersal of the Suwannee River plume over the West Florida shelf: Simulation and observation of the optical and biochemical consequences of a flushing event

Abstract

We have combined a circulation model with one of colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) photolysis to describe the fate of terrestrial CDOM on the West Florida shelf (WFS). Our results for summer 1998 suggest that a near shore plume of CDOM became entrained in a coastal jet extending south from the Suwannee River (Big Bend) region of the WFS towards the Florida Keys—a feature also evident in satellite ocean color imagery. The coupled models suggest that photochemical losses of CDOM were significant, but provided only a minimal nitrogen source for phytoplankton growth on the WFS.