Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Peak Chlorophyll A Concentrations In The Lower Mississippi River From 1997 To 2018, R. Eugene Turner, Charles S. Milan, Erick M. Swenson, James M. Lee

Faculty Publications

Large and turbid rivers have varying temperatures, light conditions, nutrient availability, and nutrient ratios that may affect phytoplankton communities and occur within a changing world of point and nonpoint source nutrient loadings. We investigated how these physical and chemical factors affect Chlorophyll a (Chl a) concentrations in the Mississippi River, the largest river in North America, by sampling 878 times from February 1997 to December 2018 near its terminus at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. We hypothesized that nutrient concentrations and ratios were significant factors limiting phytoplankton biomass accumulations in this turbid river. The Chl a concentrations were in the "poor" water …