Physico-Chemical Characteristics of the Mahanadi Estuarine Ecosystem, East Coast of India

Abstract

Seasonal pattern of temperature, salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, phosphate, nitrate and silicate profiles of the Mahanadi estuary have been studied. On the basis of physical characteristics, Mahanadi estuarine system can be classified as a partially mixed coastal plain estuary. The oxygen concentration in this estuarine system is closely related to biological activity and hence to seasonal changes in pH and it bears an inverse relationship with salinity structure. Dissolved nutrients are mostly non-conservative in this estuary. Land runoff coupled with biological and abiological processes appear to have a considerable bearing on the distribution pattern of these micronutrients in this estuarine waters.