Science Questions
The high frequency data set produced by the ORCA project allows investigation of many key questions relevant to
the Puget Sound, especially the area of South Puget Sound and Hood Canal:
- What are the relative roles of Tidal (12.2 hr), Diel (24 hr), Bloom (week-month), Seasonal (year), and El Nino (inter-annual) cycles?
- To what relative extents are phytoplankton blooms in this region dependent on: stratification, insolation and nutrients?
- Are human-derived nutrient inputs currently small relative to natural (physical and biological) fluxes?
- Will increases in nutrient inputs (eutrophication) as population and industrialization increase adversely impact water quality in South Puget Sound?
- What are the key factors in the cause of hypoxia in southern Hood Canal?