Record Details

Stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen in suspended matter and sediments from the Godavari estuary

DRS at CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography

View Archive Info
 
 
Field Value
 
Title Stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen in suspended matter and sediments from the Godavari estuary
 
Creator Sarma, V.V.S.S.
Arya, J.
Subbaiah, Ch.V.
Naidu, S.A.
Gawade, L.
PraveenKumar, P.
Reddy, N.P.C.
 
Subject carbon isotopes
nitrogen isotopes
resuspended sediments
suspended particulate matter
 
Description Spatial distribution of the carbon and nitrogen content and their isotopic enrichment in suspended matter and sediments were measured in the Godavari estuary to identify the sources and transformation mechanism of organic matter. Significant variability in isotopic distribution was found over the entire length of the Godavari estuary, suggesting multiple sources of organic matter. The mean isotopic ratios (delta sup(13)C sub(sed) -25.1 + or -0.9, delta sup(13)C sub(sus) -24.9 + or -1, delta sup(15)N sub(sed) 8.0 + or -2 and delta sup(15)N sub(sus) 6.5 + or -0.9%) and elemental concentrations (C sub(sed) 0.45 + or -0.2%, C sub(sus) 0.9 + or -0.7%, N sub(sed) 0.07 + or -0.05% and N sub(sus) 0.16 + or -0.1%) support a predominantly terrigenous source. Significant enrichment in the isotopic ratios of delta sup(13)C from the upper to lower estuary in both suspended (-27.5 and -24.3%, respectively) and sedimentary (-26.2 and -24.9%, respectively) phases indicates a decrease in the influence of terrigeneous material toward the mouth of the estuary. A significant positive relationship exists between the delta sup(13)C of suspended and sediment, which indicates that these two organic carbon pools are likely coupled in the form of a significant exchange between the two phases. A positive relationship exists between chlorophyll a and suspended organic matter, which may mean that a significant source of organic carbon is the in situ produced phytoplankton. But, applying a simple mixing model to our isotopes, data yielded about 46% as the contribution of the terrestrial source to suspended matter, which may support the excessive heterotrophic activity in the Godavari estuary reported earlier.
 
Date 2012-05-09T07:02:20Z
2012-05-09T07:02:20Z
2012
 
Type Journal Article
 
Identifier Journal of Oceanography, vol.68; 2012; 307-319
http://drs.nio.org/drs/handle/2264/4046
 
Language en
 
Rights An edited version of this paper was published by Springer. This paper is for R & D purpose and Copyright [2012] The Oceanographic Society of Japan and Springer.
 
Publisher Springer