Ultrahigh-resolution 3D monitoring reveals sediment-derived plumes as algal bloom precursors.

ABSTRACT: The global intensification of harmful algal blooms severely compromises freshwater ecosystems, threatening biodiversity and critical ecosystem services through toxin exposure, hypoxia, and water quality degradation. Bloom formation involves a complex interplay of nutrient dynamics, hydrology, and microbial activity. Although subsurface processes-such as the release of sediment-bound nutrients and the germination of dormant cyanobacteria-are thought crucial to bloom initiation, these phenomena occur at fine spatiotemporal scales beyond the reach of conventional monitoring. As a result, the exact, rapidly evolving triggers of bloom emergence remain mostly unknown. Here we show meter-scale chlorophyll a (Chl-a) plumes rising from the sediment-water interface, triggered by heavy

SUBMITTER: Xiao P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12804123 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature