2.2. Environmental variables
Temporal variations in water quality, sediment accumulation
rates (SAR), light penetration and sea surface temperature (SST)
were collected twice each month. Water quality parameters
included chlorophyll a, suspended sediment concentration (SSC),
alkalinity, ammonia (NH3), nitrate (NO3), phosphate (PO4), silicates,
total nitrogen (TN), total phosphate (TP) and trace metals
(aluminium, silver, cadmium, copper, iron, nickel, lead, and zinc).
Water samples (5 L) were collected by divers next to the floating
frames at 3 m at LAT. For chlorophyll a, triplicate water samples
(250 ml), stored in dark bottles during transportation, were