HR: 09:00h
AN: B51F-05    [Abstracts]
TI: Nutrient fluxes from coastal California catchments with suburban development
AU: * Melack, J M
EM: melack@bren.ucsb.edu
AF: Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 United States
AU: * Melack, J M
EM: melack@bren.ucsb.edu
AF: Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 United States
AU: Leydecker, A
EM: al.leydecker@cox.net
AF: Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 United States
AU: Beighley, E
EM: beighley@attila.sdsu.edu
AF: Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182 United States
AU: Robinson, T
EM: trobinson@bren.ucsb.edu
AF: Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 United States
AU: Coombs, S
EM: coombs@lifesci.ucsb.edu
AF: Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 United States
AB: Numerous streams originate in the mountains fringing California's coast and transport nutrients into coastal waters. In central California, these streams traverse catchments with land covers including chaparral, grazed grasslands, orchards, industrial agriculture and suburban and urban development. Fluvial nutrient concentrations and fluxes vary as a function of these land covers and as a function of considerable fluctuations in rainfall. As part of a long-term investigation of mobilization and fluvial transport of nutrients in catchments bordering the Santa Barbara Channel we have intensively sampled nutrient concentrations and measured discharge during storm and base flows in multiple catchments and subcatchments. Volume-weighted mean concentrations of nitrate generally ranged from 5 to 25 micromolar in undeveloped areas, increased to about 100 micromolar for suburban and most agricultural catchments, and were in excess of 1000 micromolar in catchments with greenhouse-based agriculture. Phosphate concentrations ranged from 2 to 20 micromolar among the catchments. These data are used to examine the premise that the suburbanized portion of the catchments is the primary source of nutrients to the streams.
DE: 0470 Nutrients and nutrient cycling (4845, 4850)
DE: 0493 Urban systems
DE: 0496 Water quality
DE: 1632 Land cover change
DE: 1831 Groundwater quality
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005