Long-term observational system for oceanographic studies within Bahía Blanca estuary (Argentina): state of the art and perspectives.

JORGE MARCOVECCHIO; HUGO FREIJE,; CECILIA POPOVICH; SANDRA BOTTE; ANDRES ARIAS; CARLA SPETTER; VALERIA GUINDER; RAUL ASTEASUAIN

Kiel

Congreso; AQUASHIFT: Life in warming waters; 2010

Christian Albrecht’s University, Kiel (Germany)

Bahía Blanca Estuary is a large coastal system located in the south-eastern Buenos Aires Province littoral, close to Northern Patagonia area. It is an anthropogenically impacted system, which includes cities and harbors, industrial conglomerates, dredging operations for navigational purposes, intensive agriculture and livestock production, artisanal fisheries, etc. The development of both oceanographic and environmental studies within this framework is of great concern, and consequently a long-term observational programme on the basis of physical-chemical, biological and oceanographical data gathering was carrying out since 1974 and up to present, on a fornightly basis. The programme includes the collection of data on water temperature, conductivity / salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, inorganic nutrients (NO2, NO3, NH4, PO4, SiOx), photosynthetic pigments (chlorophyll a, phaeopigments), and several potentially toxic substances (i.e. heavy metals, hydrocarbons). Considering this three-decadal analysis it was possible to understand the usual patterns of the studied parameters within the estuary, and consenquently to identify disturbances or anomalies along this period. In addition this database has been an adequate support for numerous studies as developed for different research groups as well as to produce an updated diagnosis on the environmental condition of the estuary.