Sources of nutrients and seasonal dynamics of chlorophyll in the inner shelf off Paraná State-South Brazil Bight

The seasonal dynamics of phytoplankton chlorophyll and nutrients were studied between August 1997 and March 1999 along a cross-shelf section of the inner coastal of Paraná State, southern Brazil. Vertical thermohaline stratifications in the rainy summer alternated with winter homogeneities. Nitrate-N varied from 0.17 to 1.13 µM, nitrite-N from 0.04 to 1.10 µM, phosphate-P from 0.37 to 0.73 µM, and silicate-Si from 2.5 to 10.2 µM, all presenting maximum concentrations at the bottom layers at the outer stations. Chlorophyll concentrations varied from