The mouth and lower estuary of the Magra river on the western Italian coast in the region of Liguria

Chlorophyll pigment concentrations in water bodies; Phosphate concentration parameters in the water column; Silicate concentration parameters in the water column

Discrete water samplers; spectrophotometers

Five sampling stations were chosen for the study. Of these, the first was located in the sea adjacent to the mouth of the estuary, the second was at the mouth itself and the remaining three were situated in the lower estuary. Sampling was carried out monthly (once a month). The physical parameters (temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and pH) were measured in situ with the multiparametric probe. Water samples for the analyses of the principal nutrients (N-NH3, N-NO3, N-NO2, P-PO4, organic phosphorus (dissolved), Si-SiO2) and chlorophyll-a were collected at three depths in the estuary (the surface, the bottom and the layer of mixing which tended to vary considerably) and two depths (the surface and the bottom) at the mouth and in the sea. All the samples were treated within three hours of the sampling. The analyses of the nutrients were carried out immediately whereas the filters for the determination of chlorophyll-a were stored at -20 ° Celsius and analyzed the following day. The data set does not contain any data for the month of April in 1991.

ENEA Centro Ricerche Ambiente Marino (La Spezia)
Forte S. Teresa Via S.Teresa 1
Lerici

19036
Italy