Characterization and variability of particle size distributions in Hudson Bay, Canada

Xi, Hongyan; Larouche, Pierre; Tang, Shilin; Michel, Christine

doi:10.1002/2013jc009542

Cited by 29 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 59 publications

(115 reference statements)

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“…Small particles are generally mineral particles with a high refraction index, while larger particles are biological in origin with a lower refraction index [70]. The observations in this study are in line with those reported by Xi et al (2014) for the Hudson Bay [4]. Table 1.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…It means that the combined model used in this study is capable to capture the PSD characteristics, at least in the study areas. However, it is necessary to note that the power-law model could not be well used to describe the PSD for the entire size range, as found in previous studies [4,29,30,34]. This study also indicates that the selection of the reference particle size might potentially influence the PSD slopes derived from the power-law model (data no shown).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 66%

“…Because one function form sometimes cannot capture the full complexity of the PSD [2,4,11,29,34], two power-law models, without and with correction of the parameters (see Equations (3) and (4)), were combined to describe the PSD in the study region:…”

Section: Methods To Characterize Psdsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The PSD, expressed as N'(D) (in count m −3 μm −1 ), can be defined as the average number of particles within a given size class of width ΔD for a unit volume of suspension [2,4,16] …”

Section: Lisst Measurementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…PSD provides important information about the structure and functioning of aquatic ecosystems and is therefore of particular importance in many research fields of oceanography [4]. For instance, phytoplankton functional types usually vary with size, a finding that has been incorporated into global biogeochemical models and used to assess the ecological feedback to the ocean's carbon In this study, we investigate the variability in PSD in two typically shallow and semi-enclosed seas, the Bohai Sea (BS) and the Yellow Sea (YS), with the following two objectives: (1) to model the PSD of the surface waters; and (2) to characterize the spatial variability and vertical distributions of the PSD.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Variability of Particle Size Distributions in the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea

Qiu

Sun

et al. 2016

Remote Sensing

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Particle size distribution (PSD) is an important parameter that is relevant to many aspects of marine ecosystems, such as phytoplankton functional types, optical absorption and scattering from particulates, sediment fluxes, and carbon export. However, only a handful of studies have documented the PSD variability in different regions. Here, we investigate the PSD properties and variability in two shallow and semi-enclosed seas (the Bohai Sea (BS) and Yellow Sea (YS)), using in situ laser diffraction measurements (LISST-100X Type C) and other measurements at 79 stations in November 2013. The results show large variability in particle concentrations (in both volume and number concentrations), with volume concentrations varying by 57-fold. The median particle diameter (D v 50 ) from each of the water samples also covers a large range (22.4-307.0 µm) and has an irregular statistical distribution, indicating complexity in the PSD. The PSD slopes (2.7-4.5), estimated from a power-law model, cover nearly the entire range reported previously for natural waters. Small mineral particles (with large PSD slopes) are characteristic of near-shore waters prone to sediment resuspension by winds and tides, while large biological particles (with small PSD slopes) dominate the total suspended particulates for waters away from the coast. For the BS and YS, this study provides the first report on the properties and spatial variability of the PSD, which may influence the optical properties of the ocean surface and remote sensing algorithms that are based on estimations of particle concentrations and sizes.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 66%

Section: Methods To Characterize Psdsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The PSD, expressed as N'(D) (in count m −3 μm −1 ), can be defined as the average number of particles within a given size class of width ΔD for a unit volume of suspension [2,4,16] …”

Section: Lisst Measurementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Variability of Particle Size Distributions in the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea

Qiu

Sun

et al. 2016

Remote Sensing

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Beam attenuation, scattering and backscattering of marine particles in relation to particle size distribution and composition in Hudson Bay (Canada)

Larouche

Michel

et al. 2015

JGR Oceans

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This study investigated the relationships between the concentration of biogeochemical parameters and particulate beam attenuation (c p ), scattering (b p ), and backscattering (b bp ) in Hudson Bay. Results showed that most of the variability resulted from the presence of a deep chlorophyll maximum. c p , b p , and b bp were all adequate proxies to estimate total suspended matter (TSM) but were mostly sensitive to particulate inorganic matter (PIM) in the surface layer, and particulate organic matter (POM) at the chlorophyll maximum depth. The backscattering ratiob bp varied in the range of 0.005-0.05 and was inversely related to the POM : TSM ratio. According to the Twardowski et al. (2001) model, the PSD slope n well representedb bp and bulk refractive index n p in relation to particulate composition. For inorganic particulate dominated waters, bothb bp and n p had a larger range and a higher mean value than at organic particulate dominated waters. This knowledge on the optical properties related to the PSD and particulate composition provides valuable information for further investigation and broadens our understanding of ocean optics in high latitude waters leading to potential improvements of regional scale remote sensing algorithms.

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Particle distributions and dynamics in the euphotic zone of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre

et al. 2015

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During the summer of 2012, we used laser diffractometry to investigate the temporal and vertical variability of the particle size spectrum (1.25–100 µm in equivalent diameter) in the euphotic zone of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Particles measured with this optical method accounted for ∼40% of the particulate carbon stocks (<202 µm) in the upper euphotic zone (25–75 m), as estimated using an empirical formula to transform particle volume to carbon concentrations. Over the entire vertical layer considered (20–180 m), the largest contribution to particle volume corresponded to particles between 3 and 10 µm in diameter. Although the exponent of a power law parameterization suggested that larger particles had a lower relative abundance than in other regions of the global ocean, this parameter and hence conclusions about relative particle abundance are sensitive to the shape of the size distribution and to the curve fitting method. Results on the vertical distribution of particles indicate that different size fractions varied independently with depth. Particles between 1.25 and 2 µm reached maximal abundances coincident with the depth of the chlorophyll a maximum (averaging 121 ± 10 m), where eukaryotic phytoplankton abundances increased. In contrast, particles between 2 and 20 µm tended to accumulate just below the base of the mixed layer (41 ± 14 m). Variability in particle size tracked changes in the abundance of specific photoautotrophic organisms (measured with flow cytometry and pigment concentration), suggesting that phytoplankton population dynamics are an important control of the spatiotemporal variability in particle concentration in this ecosystem.

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Characterization and variability of particle size distributions in Hudson Bay, Canada

Cited by 29 publications

References 59 publications

Variability of Particle Size Distributions in the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea

Variability of Particle Size Distributions in the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea

Beam attenuation, scattering and backscattering of marine particles in relation to particle size distribution and composition in Hudson Bay (Canada)

Particle distributions and dynamics in the euphotic zone of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre

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