THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT OF GOLFO DULCE

Golfo Dulce is considered to be a rare "tropical fiord." Located along the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, this curved embayment is situated between the Osa Peninsula and the mainland. Its unusual shape, bathymetry, and hydrography have prompted several studies, as described in the articles below. In general, surface waters are warm with lower saline due to freshwater discharge from several rivers. A deep inner basin protected by an effective sill prevents free exchange with the Pacific masses, creating relatively calm conditions for the marine fauna.

Peer-reviewed

Acuña-González, J., T. Dalsgaard, and B. Thamdrup. 2006. El golfo Dulce de Costa Rica: sumidero de nitrógeno oceánico. Investigación y Ciencia, Enero: 34–35. [link]

Acuña-González, J., J.A. Vargas-Zamora, and R. Córdoba-Muñoz. 2006. A snapshot view of some vertical distributions of water parameters at a deep (200 m) station in the fjord-like Golfo Dulce, embayment, Costa Rica. Revista de Biología Tropical 54 (Suppl. 1):193-200. [link]

Acuña-González, J., J.A. Vargas-Zamora, E. Gómez-Ramírez, y J. García-Céspedes. 2004. Hidrocarburos de petróleo, disueltos y dispersos, en cuatro ambientes costeros de Costa Rica. Revista de Biología Tropical 52 (Supl. 2):43-50. [link]

Buchs, D.M., P.O. Baumgartner, C. Baumgartner-Mora, A.N. Bandini, S.J. Jackett, M.O. Diserens, and J. Stucki 2009. Late Cretaceous to Miocene seamount accretion and mélange formation in the Osa and Burica Peninsulas (Southern Costa Rica): episodic growth of a convergent margin. Geological Scoiety, London, Special Publications, 328: 411–456. [link]

Córdoba, R., and J.A. Vargas. 1996. Temperature, salinity, oxygen, and nutrient profiles at a 200 m deep station in Golfo Dulce, Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Revista de Biología Tropical 44 (Suppl 3): 233–236. [link]

Dalsgaard T., D.E. Canfield, J. Petersen, B. Thamdrup, and J. Acuña-González. 2003. N2 production by the anammox reaction in the anoxic water column of Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica. Nature 422:606-608. [link]

Ferdelman TG, B. Thamdrup, D.E. Canfield, R.N. Glud, J. Kuever, R. Lillebæk, N.B. Ramsing, and C Wawer. 2006. Biogeochemical controls on the oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur distributions in the water column of Golfo Dulce: an anoxic basin on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica revisited. Revista de Biología Tropical 54 (Suppl. 1):171-191. [link]

Fournier, M.L., L.E. Castillo, F. Ramírez, G. Moraga, C. Ruepert. 2019. Evaluación preliminar del área agrícola y su influencia sobre la calidad del agua en el Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica. Revista de Ciencias Ambientales (Trop J Environ Sci) 53(1): 92-112. [link]

Hebbeln, D., D. Beese, and J. Cortés. 1996. Morphology and sediment structures in Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica. Revista de Biología Tropical 44 (Suppl. 3):1-10. [link]

Hebbeln, D., and J. Cortés. 2001. Sedimentation in a tropical fiord: Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica. Geo-Marine Letters 20:142–148. [link]

Lei, Z. 2002. Marine coastal dynamics and primary production response in Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica: A multi-sensor satellite approach. Thesis, Master of Science, Geoinformation to Coastal Zone Studies, International Institute for Geoinformation Science and Earth Observation, Enschede, The Netherlands. [link]

Malzer O., and M. Fiebig. 2008. Outline of the geology of the Golfo Dulce region (Costa Rica) and its surroundings in Central America. In Natural and Cultural History of the Golfo Dulce Region, Costa Rica (Eds. A.Weissenhofer, W. Huber, V. Mayer, S. Pamperl, A. Weber, and G. Aubrecht). Stapfia Series, Biologiezentrum, Austria. 768 pp. [link]

Morales-Ramírez, Á., J. Acuña-González, O. Lizano, E. Alfaro, and E. Gómez. 2015. Rasgos oceanográficos en el Golfo Dulce, Pacífico de Costa Rica: una revisión para la toma de decisiones en conservación marina. Revista de Biología Tropical 63(Supl.1):131-160. [link]

Quesada-Alpízar, M.A. and A. Morales-Ramírez. 2004. Comportamiento de las masas de agua en el Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica durante El Niño (1997 - 1998). Revista de Biología Tropical 52: 95–103. [link]

Quiros-Alvares, G. 2003. Circulación del Golfo Dulce: un fiordo tropical. Topografía Meteorología y Oceanografía 10(2): 75–83. [no link available]

Richards, F.A., J.J. Anderson, and J.D. Cline. 1971. Chemical and physical observations in Golfo Dulce, an anoxic basin on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Limnology and Oceanography 16:43-50. [link]

Rincón-Alejos, F., and D. Ballestero-Sakson. 2015. Hidrografía y plumas estuarinas en Golfo Dulce, Pacífico sur de Costa Rica. Revista de Biología Tropical 63(Supl.1):161-181. [link]

Silva, A.M., and J. Acuña-Gonzáles. 2006. Caracterización físico-química de dos estuarios en la bahía de Golfito, Golfo Dulce, Pacífico de Costa Rica. Revista de Biología Tropical 54:241-256. [link]

Spongberg, A. 2004. PCB contamination in marine sediments from Golfo Dulce, Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Revista de Biología Tropical 52:23–32. [link]

Spongberg, A.L., and P. Davis. 1998. Organochlorinated pesticide contaminants in Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica. Revista de Biología Tropical 46(Suppl. 6):111-124. [link]

Spongberg, A.L., J.D. Witter, J. Acuña, J. Vargas, M. Murillo, G. Umaña, E. Gómez, and G. Perez G. 2011. Reconnaissance of selected PPCP compounds in Costa Rican surface waters. Water Research 45(20): 6709–6717. [link]

Steinsdóttir, H.G.R., E. Gómez-Ramírez, S. Mhatre, C. Schauberger, A.D. Bertagnolli, Z.A. Pratte, F.J. Stewart, B. Thamdrup, and L.A. Bristow. 2022. Anaerobic methane oxidation in a coastal oxygen minimum zone: spatial and temporal dynamics. Environmental Microbiology 24(5): 2361–2379. [link]

Svendsen, H., R. Rosland, S. Myking, J.A. Vargas, O.G. Lizano, and E.J. Alfaro. 2006. A physical-oceanographic study of Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica. Revista de Biología Tropical 54:147–170. [link]

Thamdrup, B., D.E. Canfield, T.G. Ferdelman, R.N. Glud, and J.K. Gundersen. 1996. A biogeochemical survey of the anoxic basin Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica. Reconocimiento biogeoquímico de la cuenca anóxica del Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica. Revista de Biología Tropical 44:19–33. [link]

Umana V, G. 1998. Characterization of some Golfo Dulce drainage basin rivers (Costa Rica). Revista de Biología Tropical 46(Supl.6):125·135. [link]

Vargas-Zamora, J.A., E. Gómez-Ramírez, A. Morales-Ramírez. 2021. A fjord-like tropical ecosystem, Pacific coast of Costa Rica: overview of research in Golfo Dulce. Rev Biol Trop 69(3):773-796. [link]

Wild, C., T. Rixen, C. Sánchez-Noguera, A. Merico, C. Jiménez, J. Cortés, and M.S. Naumann. 2015. A carbonate platform associated with shallow cold methane seeps in Golfo Dulce, Pacific Costa Rica. Galaxea 17: 13–14. [link]

Wolff M., H.J. Hartman, and V. Koch. 1996. A pilot trophic model for Golfo Dulce, a tropical fjord-like embayment, Costa Rica. Revista de Biología Tropical 44:215–231. [link]

Scientific Theses, Reports & Posters

Barton, D., and J.A. Vargas. (Eds.). 1995. Integrated Coastal Zone Management in Central America. Applications to the tropical coastal systems of Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica. Report from an international workshop, November 1993 and follow-up meetings in 1994, San José, Costa Rica. SMR-report 19/95. Bergen, Norway: SMR-IOC-CIMAR-SAREC-ZMT, Centre for Studies on Environment and Resources, University of Bergen, Part. I: 1–60. [link]

Barton, D., and J.A. Vargas. (Eds.). 1995. Integrated Coastal Zone Management in Central America. Applications to the tropical coastal systems of Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica. Report from an international workshop, November 1993 and follow-up meetings in 1994, San José, Costa Rica. SMR-report 19/95. Bergen, Norway: SMR-IOC-CIMAR-SAREC-ZMT, Centre for Studies on Environment and Resources, University of Bergen, Part. II: 61–119. [link]

Germain, N. 2004. Importancia de la calidad de agua del río Conte y recomendaciones para un plan de acción de gestión sostenible, Playa Blanca, Golfo Dulce, CR. Tesis de Maestría, Univ. Costa Rica, San Pedro. 81 pp. [link]

Molina-Bustamante, C., and L. Crowder. 2014. Dimensión Humana de los Ecosistemas Marinos de la Región de Osa y Golfito. Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, Iniciativa Osa y Golfito (INOGO). [link]

Morales, R.A.L. 1997. Estudios del bentos del Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica. Con base en la expedición del Buque Oceanográfico Víctor Hensen. 1993-1994. Programa de Licenciatura en Biología. Universidad de Costa Rica. 64 pp. [link]

Quesada, M.A., and J. Cortés. 2006. Golfo Dulce. In V. Nielsen Munoz and M.A. Quesada Alpizar (eds.) Ambientes Marino Costeros de Costa Rica, pp. 168-176. Informe técnico de la comisión interdisciplinaria marino costera de la zona económica exclusiva de Costa Rica. [link]

THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT OF GOLFO DULCE

Peer-reviewed

Scientific Theses, Reports & Posters

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