Despite high nutrient concentrations, median chlorophyll a concentration was only 1.53 µg l−1, making the East River tidal strait a high-nutrient, low-chlorophyll (HNLC) area, likely a result of suspended silt blocking light penetration into the surface water.
The maximum penetration depths for suspended and retained particles are the same and are equal to those for a single-phase flow.
A water droplet sitting on a micro-structure surface generally fully wets the substrate topography or is suspended atop the surface topography without penetration, namely, either is the Wenzel (W) [11] state or Cassie-Baxter (CB) [12] state.
In addition, the finer the particles, the greater the likelihood of penetration to indoor environments, being suspended in the atmosphere for longer periods and being transported over large distances.
Consequently, high biomass of plankton or suspended particles in the surface layer limits light penetration to the lower water layers (Litchman et al. 2004; Tadesse et al. 2004).
An increase in turbidity through elevated levels of suspended sediment concentration (SSC) within the lagoon may affect the ecosystem health due to reduced light penetration.
The negative relationship in the CCYK is due in part to the positive correlation of TP and suspended sediment (r = 0.67) with elevated suspended sediment potentially interfering with benthic algae by decreasing light penetration and/or by sediment deposition.
The penetration and absorption of light and the colour and transparency of the ocean water are indicative of biological activity and of suspended material.
