Dissolved nutrient distributions in the Central English Channel

Samples for analysis of nitrate plus nitrite, dissolved reactive phosphate and silicate were collected in the English Channel along a transect between Cherbourg and the Isle of Wight, within the framework of the FLUXMANCHE II programme. A total of 130 samples were obtained during 15 cruises between December 1994 and December 1995, thus giving a full seasonal coverage. Nutrient concentrations were generally highest on the UK side of the Channel, where riverine inputs were greatest. Nutrient fluxes across this transect from west to east for the winter period, when the nutrients exhibited quasi-conservative behaviour, were calculated using the N, P and Si data, and estimates of water fluxes derived from a two-dimensional hydrodynamic numerical model. A gyre system off the Isle of Wight led to localised east to west fluxes of nutrients. Although nutrient concentrations are lower in the central Channel than in the coastal zones, the nutrient fluxes are greatest through this central zone because of the higher fluxes of water through this part of the transect. The fluxes obtained through this mid-Channel transect are greater than fluxes estimated through the Straits of Dover for a similar winter period as part of the earlier FLUXMANCHE I (December 1990– March 1991) programme, suggesting significant variability from year to year, and/or removal of nutrients in the eastern Channel.