Weather, Hydrological and Oceanographic Conditions of the Northern Coast of the Río de la Plata Estuary during ENSO 2009–2010

Abstract

Climatic, hydrological, and oceanographic conditions were determined during the 2009-2010 El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on the north coast of the Río de la Plata (RdlP) estuary. The maximum monthly rainfall was observed in the middle and upper La Plata basin during September 2009 and February 2010 ("El Niño" phase, (EN)). The monthly flow of RdlP showed an increase with rainfall and significant differences between ENSO phases. The wind stress showed fluctuations in both phases, being less intense during EN, during which time maximum flow of RdlP was observed. During the EN phase, increased precipitation contributed to variations in salinity and absence of water column stratification in the north coast of RdlP. This was also associated with variations in Secchi depth, oxygen saturation, and nutrient concentrations. The spatial location of the turbidity front was associated with the flow of the RdlP and wind stress, thus conditioning the physicochemical characteristics of the water column, mainly during EN phase.

Influences of Climate Change and Variability on Estuarine Ecosystems: An Impact Study in Selected European, South American and Asian Countries

“…For the RdlP estuary, the historical environmental and hydrological data ranged from 1981 to 1999 (e.g., [ 37 ]), and for hydrology, plankton and fisheries from the 2000s to the present [ 46 , 47 ]. In addition, recent climatic, environmental and hydrological data were included (e.g., [ 38 , 39 , 40 , 48 ]).…”

Climate vulnerability, impacts and adaptation in Central and South America coastal areas

“…The fifth IPCC report (AR-5) on adaptation in CSA showed that SLR increased from 2 mm/yr in 1950 to 7 mm/yr in 2008 threatening corals, fish stocks and mangroves (Magrin et al, 2014). ENSO-related variability has been associated with ecological changes in the coastal environment in CSA (Brugnoli et al, 2018;IPCC, 2014d;Wong et al, 2014), while extreme weather events have affected people, including fatalities, displacement and economic losses .…”

Mesozooplankton and environmental variation during the 2009-2010 ENSO event on the north coast of the Río de la Plata estuary

“…Esta especie se encuentra adaptada a condiciones variables (salinidad, turbidez, temperatura) del área de estudio correspondientes a la zona del frente de turbidez (Derisio et al, 2014). Durante El Niño (2009-2010) se reportan elevadas descargas del Río Uruguay y Río Paraná y un incremento en el estado trófico (Brugnoli et al, 2018;. Durante esta fase, el aumento de caudal promovió un incremento en la abundancia y riqueza de cladóceros de agua dulce, originando una heterogeneidad espacial (abundancia y riqueza) del mesozooplancton en la ZCM.…”

“…En el RdlP, el evento ENOS es una forzante atmosférica a gran escala, ocasionando efectos en las descargas de los ríos, modificaciones en la dinámica físico-química, en la ubicación de los frentes de turbidez o salinidad, en la dinámica de los nutrientes y en el estado trófico del ambiente bentónico (Camilloni & Nagy et al, 2002aNagy et al, , 2008Nagy et al, , 2013García-Rodríguez et al, 2014;Pérez et al, 2016;Brugnoli et al, 2018).…”

“…A pesar de estos avances, se desconoce la variabilidad a escala interanual asociada a forzantes climáticas a macro-escala como ENOS sobre la composición y dinámica de la comunidad zooplanctónica en el RdlP (Acha et al, 2009). En la costa norte del RdlP durante el evento El Niño 2009-2010 se reportaron precipitaciones máximas y valores mínimos de estrés del viento, incrementando los caudales del RdlP, condicionando la ubicación de los frentes de salinidad y turbiedad y las características físico-químicas de la columna de agua (Brugnoli et al, 2018).…”