Spatial and temporal variations in hydrrographical parameters in Talapady lagoon, southwest coast of India

Abstract

Spatial and temporal variabilities in hydrographical parameters were studied in Talapady lagoon, a tropical coastal lagoon located on the southwest coast of India. The lagoon was influenced by two adjoining water bodies, the Talapady

<span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:" times="" new="" roman";="" mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";color:black;mso-ansi-language:en-in;="" mso-fareast-language:en-in;mso-bidi-language:hi"="" lang="EN-IN">river during the southwest monsoon (June-September) and the Arabian Sea during the rest of the year. Temperature, during this study, varied between 26.18 to 34.50°C, salinity from 0.2 to 18.5 × 10^-3, dissolved oxygen from 3.90 to 6.20 ml.1^-1, suspended particulate matter from 3.8 to 744.3 mg.1^-1 and particulate organic carbon from 0.22 to 3.96 mg.1^-1 . The nutrients studied included NH₃-N (6.79 - 24.72 μg-at.1^-1), NO₂- N (0.1-9.8 μg-at.1^-1), NO₃-N (2.5-16.1 μg-at.1^-1) , PO₄-P (3.4-6 .5μg-at.1^-1), and SiO₃-Si (15.3- 132.9 μg-at.1^-1). Temporal variations in the parameters studied were quite distinct with most parameters following a trimodal pattern, with peaks during premonsoon, monsoon and <span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:" times="" new="" roman";="" mso-fareast-font-family:hiddenhorzocr;color:black;mso-ansi-language:en-in;="" mso-fareast-language:en-in;mso-bidi-language:hi"="" lang="EN-IN">postmomsoon.</span></span>