Post-Tsunami Changes in Water Quality of Kalpakkam Coastal Waters, East Coast of India with Special Reference to Nutrients

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Satpathy, K.K. | Mohanty, A.K. | Prasad, M.V.R. | Natesan, Usha | Sarkar, S.K.

Affiliations: Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam-603 102, Tamil Nadu, India | Centre for Environmental Studies, Anna University, Chennai-600 025, India | Department of Marine Sciences, Kolkata University, Kolkata, India

Note: [] Corresponding Author. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: Studies were carried out to evaluate the changes in water quality of Kalpakkam coast during post-Tsunami with special emphasis on nutrient contents. Samples were collected fortnightly from five locations, both surface and bottom at each location, during the period January-May 2006. Results revealed marginal decrease in DO (from 5.76 to 5.21 mg l^{-1}), increase in nitrate (from 1.14 to 3.43 μmol l^{-1}), silicate (from 5.55 to 7.20 μmol l^{-1}), phosphate (from 0.19 to 0.25 μmol l^{-1}) and decrease in chlorophyll-a content (from 6.15 to 4.34 mg m^{-3}) during the post-Tsunami period. Increase in nutrient contents did not commensurate with increase in chlorophyll possibly due to increase in turbidity in the coastal waters during the post-Tsunami period. A baseline data on TP and TN has been established for this coastal waters for future impact studies.

Keywords: Tsunami, Kalpakkam, coastal water, nutrient change

Journal: Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 15-30, 2008