Biological, chemical and physical observations in inshore waters of the Great Barrier Reef (1979)

The distribution of salinity, temperature, suspended particles, light transmissivity, chlorophyll a and phaeophytin pigments, across the Great Barrier Reef lagoon offshore from Townsville, was measured from January 9, 1979 to January 3, 1980 at weekly intervals, weather permitting.The six stations sampled were located on a straight line between Cape Ferguson (19°16'S, 147°04'E), near AIMS, and Keeper Reef (18°45'S, 147°15'E).At every radar positioned station, six samples were taken from top to bottom at regular intervals of 2, 3, 3, 5, 6 and 8 m, at stations 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 9 respectively.
This study was undertaken to investigate the extent of gradients in a number of parameters (salinity, temperature, suspended particles, light transmissivity, chlorophyll a and phaeophytin pigments) both across the lagoon and through the water column at different times of the year.