PARTICLE-BOUND NUTRIENTS IN AND AROUND THE SUNDARBANS, SOUTHWEST BANGLADESH
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53808/KUS.SI.FRCC.2006.43-53-lsKeywords:
The Sundarbans, solute load, mangroves, sedimentary nutrients, Bengal basin, BangladeshAbstract
The study deals with the nature of solute load as well as the spatial distribution and the biogeochemical processing of the C, N and P in the suspended sediments from rivers in and around the Sundarbans collected during August-September 2002. The geochemistry of the solute load suggests that oceanic surface processes are important in and around the Sundarbans ecosystem and subduing the continental carbonate weathering processes prevailing over the Bengal basin. Despite a low concentration, significant spatial variation in Total Organic Carbon (TOC) and Total Nitrogen (TN) content in the suspended sediments exist in and around the Sundarbans, where as Plant Available Phosphorus (PAP) does not show any significant spatial variation. Excellent correlation between TOC and TN suggests regulation of TN by organic matter. However, the presence of considerable amount of inorganic nitrogen (ca. ~ 0.10 mg.g-1) may be estimated from such relationship, which is more important in the periphery (ca. ~ 0.19 mg.g-1) than in the interior Sundarbans (ca. ~ 0.03 mg.g-1) and may be of anthropogenic origin. The importance of inorganic nitrogen is also evident from the low TOC: TN ratio (varying from 2.96 to 6.42) in the ecosystem which could also be attributable to the almost complete degradation of the organic matter. Negative and poor/no correlation between PAP with TOC and TN suggest that phosphorus is not the only limiting factor in biomass production in the ecosystem.
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