<p>Spatial distribution of the chlorophyll-<em>a</em> and phytoplankton community composition related to different water masses were studied during regional cruise in February-March 2006 across the Arabian/Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, the marginal seas of the Western Indian Ocean.</p><p>Chlorophyll-<em>a</em> concentrations were measured using <em>in vitro</em> method with fluorescence detection and also were assessed as <em>in vivo</em> fluorescence measured by submersible fluorometer. Nearly four hundred species of phytoplankton were enumerated and identified using microscopy in the samples collected at the same stations.</p><p>High phytoplankton abundance was associated with diatom-dominated phytoplankton blooms in the central and northwestern part of the Gulf, in the Strait of Hormuz and in the Sea of Oman.&#160;The average concentration of <em>in vitro</em> measured surface chlorophyll-<em>a</em> in the studied area was 2.5 mg/m<sup>3</sup>, with the maximum over 9 mg/m<sup>3</sup>. The relationships between the concentrations of satellite remotely sensed chlorophyll and <em>in vitro</em> measured chlorophyll-<em>a</em> were found to be mostly in good agreement. The highest concentrations of the surface chlorophyll (> 4 mg/m<sup>3</sup>) were observed in the areas where diatom-dominated blooms were identified. It was revealed a significant relationship between the phytoplankton composition and water masses indexed by salinity.</p><p>The main significance of this study is in the first data set of <em>in vitro</em> measured precise chlorophyll-<em>a</em> concentrations that were obtained along with phytoplankton abundance and taxonomic diversity from the entire region of the Arabian/Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman.&#160;This data set can&#160;be used for remote sensing measurements validation and as a baseline for future studies of the biological productivity changes in the Western Indian Ocean.</p>
Enhanced velocity-based pore-pressure prediction using lithofacies clustering: a case study from a reservoir with complex lithology in Dezful Embayment, SW Iran