title: Analysis of the spatio-temporal variability of seawater quality in the southeastern Arabian Gulf.
abstract: In this study, seawater quality measurements, including salinity, sea surface temperature (SST), chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), Secchi disk depth (SDD), pH, and dissolved oxygen (DO), were made from June 2013 to November 2014 at 52 stations in the southeastern Arabian Gulf. Significant variability was noticed for all collected parameters. Salinity showed a decreasing trend, and Chl-a, DO, pH, and SDD demonstrated increasing trends from shallow onshore stations to deep offshore ones, which could be attributed to variations of ocean circulation and meteorological conditions from onshore to offshore waters, and the likely effects of desalination plants along the coast. Salinity and temperature were high in summer and low in winter while Chl-a, SDD, pH, and DO indicated an opposite trend. The CTD profiles showed vertically well-mixed structures. Qualitative analysis of phytoplankton showed a high diversity of species without anomalous species found except in Ras Al Khaimah stations where diatoms were the dominating ones.
authors.affiliation: Institute Center for Water and Environment (iWATER), Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Masdar City, PO Box 54224, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Electronic address: nmezhoud@masdar.ac.ae.
authors.forename: Nahla
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mezhoud
authors.affiliation: Institute Center for Water and Environment (iWATER), Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Masdar City, PO Box 54224, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
authors.forename: Marouane
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Temimi
authors.affiliation: Institute Center for Water and Environment (iWATER), Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Masdar City, PO Box 54224, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Institute Center for Water and Environment (iWATER), Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Masdar City, PO Box 54224, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
authors.forename: Maryam Rashed
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Al Shehhi
authors.affiliation: Institute Center for Water and Environment (iWATER), Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Masdar City, PO Box 54224, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
authors.forename: Hosni
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ghedira
mesh_terms: D002734:Chlorophyll / Q000032:analysis; D017377:Diatoms; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D010100:Oxygen; D010839:Phytoplankton; D054712:Salinity; D012621:Seasons; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry*; D013696:Temperature; D014876:Water Pollution / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D002734:Chlorophyll; D010100:Oxygen
keywords: Phytoplankton species; Seasonality; United Arab Emirates; Water quality