Dynamics of dissolved and biogenic silica in the freshwater reaches of a macrotidal estuary (The Scheldt, Belgium)

Temporal evolution of dissolved and biogenic silica concentrations along the Scheldt tidal river and in its tributaries was investigated during 1 year in 2003. In the tributaries, dissolved silica (DSi) concentrations remained high and biogenic silica (BSi) concentrations were low throughout the year. In the tidal river during summer, DSi was completely consumed and BSi concentrations increased. Overall, most of the BSi was associated with living diatoms during the productive period in the tidal river. Nevertheless, the detrital BSi was a significant fraction of the total BSi pool, of which less than 10% could be attributed to phytoliths. The tidal river was divided into two zones for budgeting purposes. The highest productivity was observed in the zone that received the highest water discharge, as higher riverine DSi input fluxes induced presumably a less restrictive DSi limitation, but the discharge pattern could not explain all by itself the variations in DSi consumption. Silica uptake and retention in the tidal river were important at the seasonal time-scale: from May to September, 48% of the riverine DSi was consumed and 65% of the produced BSi was deposited, leading to a silica (DSi + BSi) retention in the tidal river of 30%. However, when annual fluxes were considered, DSi uptake in the tidal river amounted to 14% of the DSi inputs and only 6% of the riverine silica (DSi + BSi) was retained in the tidal river.