A study of the movement of phosphorous in the Little River Estuary, NSW

Abstract

The estuary of the Little River, N.S.W. was mapped and measurements made of phytoplankton productivity, phosphorus content, chlorophyll 'a' content, zooplankton biomass, salinity, temperature and oxygen content. Phosphorus-32 and hydrogen-3 were injected into the estuary and the rate of movement of phosphorus-32 into the phytoplankton and zooplankton was calculated. The turnover time for phosphorus-32 in solution was approximately two hours.