ABSTRACT
(Received 4 February 1987)
The distribution of salinity, silicate, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and phosphate off the Alexandroupolis coast, both inside and outside the Evros River plume, were observed during three cruises between March 1981 and March 1982. The most important river source of nutrients is the Evros River and the data show that there is a large spatial and temporal variability of salinity and nutrients during both high and low discharge periods. The extension of the area influenced by the river mouth is characterized by a highly significant correlation between salinity and nutrients. This indicates a control of the dynamics of the nutrients by the physical processes of dilution. In the second zone, lying further from the river mouth, this correlation is lost because of the superposition of biological factors. The fact that in some zones the concentration of the total inorganic nitrogen was sometimes found to be undetectable suggests that nitrogen could be the growth limiting factor.
