|
|
|
|
C:N ratio of Sediments in a sewage fed Urban Lake
Durga Madhab Mahapatra1, Chanakya H. N1,2 and Ramachandra T. V* 1-3 |
|
1 Centre for Sustainable Technologies,
2 Centre for infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation and Urban Planning,
3 Energy and Wetlands Research Group, Centre for Ecological Sciences,
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India |
|
|
|
ABSTRACT
C:N ratio of lake sediments provide valuable
information about the source and proportions of terrestrial,
phytogenic and phycogenic carbon and nitrogen. This study has been
carried out in Varthur lake which is receiving sewage since many
decades apart from large scale land cover changes. C:N profile of the
surficial sediment layer collected in the rainy and the dry seasons
revealed higher C:N values[43] due to the accumulation of
autochthonous organic material mostly at the deeper portions of the
lake. This also highlights N limitation in the sludge either due to
uptake by micro and macro-biota or rapid volatilization,
denitrification and possible leaching in water. Organic Carbon was
lower towards the inlets and higher near the deeper zones. This
pattern of Organic C deposition was aided by gusty winds and high
flow conditions together with impacts by the land use land cover
changes in the watershed. Spatial variability of C:N in surficial
sediments is significant compared to its seasonal variability. This
communication provides an insight to the pattern in which nutrients
are distributed in the sludge/sediment and its variation across seasons
and space impacted by the biotic process accompanied by the
hydrodynamic changes in the lake.
Keywords— Sediments, C:N, sewage, urban lake, nutrients,
macrophytes, algae
Citation: Durga Madhab Mahapatra, Chanakya H. N and T. V. Ramachandra, 2011, C:N ratio of Sediments in a sewage fed Urban Lake. International Journal of Geology, Issue 3, Vol. 5, pp. 86 - 92.
|
|
|
|
|
|