Ittekkot, Venugopalan, Humborg, Christoph and Schäfer, Petra (2000) Hydrological Alterations and Marine Biogeochemistry: A Silicate Issue?. BioScience, 50 (9). p. 776. DOI https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2000)050[0776:HAAMBA]2.0.CO;2.

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Abstract

Freshwater and sediment inputs from rivers play a major role in sustaining estuarine and coastal ecosystems. Nutrients from rivers promote biological productivity in estuaries and coastal waters, and the sediments supplied by the rivers stabilize deltas and coastal zones and help to maintain ecosystems along the periphery of landmasses. In the last few decades, human activities have caused enormous changes both in the nature and quantity of these inputs. Fluxes to the oceans of mineral nutrients, such as phosphate and nitrate, have increased worldwide by more than a factor of two (Meybeck 1998). This increase has led to accelerated algal growth, known as eutrophi cation, and consequently to deterioration in water quality because of oxygen depletion. Toxic algal blooms occurring in coastal waters, which have devastating effects on fisheries and on biodiversity in general, are also attributable to eutrophication. Oxygen-deficient conditions, in turn, pro mote the production of greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide and methane and their emission from coastal waters to the atmosphere.

Document Type:	Article
Programme Area:	PA Not Applicable
Research affiliation:	Science Management > Directorate
Refereed:	Yes
Open Access Journal?:	No
DOI:	https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2000)050[0776:HAAMBA]2.0.CO;2
ISSN:	0006-3568
Date Deposited:	06 Nov 2025 10:54
Last Modified:	06 Nov 2025 10:54
URI:	https://cris.leibniz-zmt.de/id/eprint/5940

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