Dynamics and quantification of dissolved heavy metals in the Mahanadi river estuarine system, India
- 27 April 2011
- journal article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
- Vol. 184 (2), 1157-1179
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-011-2030-x
Abstract
Dynamics of heavy metals such as Fe, Mn, Zn, Cr, Cu, Co, Ni, Pb, and Cd in surface water of Mahanadi River estuarine systems were studied taking 31 different stations and three different seasons. This study demonstrates that the elemental concentrations are extremely variable and most of them are higher than the World river average. Among the heavy metals, iron is present at highest concentration while cadmium is at the least. The spatial pattern of heavy metals suggests that their anthropogenic sources are possibly from two major fertilizer plants and municipal sewage from three major towns as well as agricultural runoff. The temporal variations for metals like Fe, Cu, and Pb exhibit higher values during the monsoon season, which are related to agricultural runoff. Concentrations of Ni, Pb, and Cd exceed the maximum permissible limits of surface water quality in some polluted stations and pose health risks. Dissolved heavy metals like Fe, Mn, Cr, Ni, and Pb exhibit a non-conservative behavior during estuarine mixing, while Zn, Cu, and Co distribution is conservative. Distribution of cadmium in the estuarine region indicates some mobilization which may be due to desorption. The enrichment ratio data suggest that various industrial wastes and municipal wastes contribute most of the dissolved metals in the Mahanadi River. The Mahanadi River transports 18.216 × 103 t of total heavy metals into the Bay of Bengal and the calculated rate of erosion in the basin is 128.645 kg km − 2 year − 1.Keywords
This publication has 49 references indexed in Scilit:
- Study of heavy metal pollution in seawater of Kepez harbor of Canakkale (Turkey)Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2010
- Analysis and evaluation of the source of heavy metals in water of the River ChangjiangEnvironmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2010
- Application of multivariate statistical techniques in hydrogeochemical studies—a case study: Brahmani–Koel River (India)Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2009
- Preliminary assessment of total dissolved trace metal concentrations in Sava River waterEnvironmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2008
- Environmental studies on river water quality with reference to suitability for agricultural purposes: Mahanadi river estuarine system, India – a case studyEnvironmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2008
- Application of factor and cluster analysis for characterization of river and estuarine water systems – A case study: Mahanadi River (India)Journal of Hydrology, 2006
- Heavy Metal Transport in the Hindon River Basin, IndiaEnvironmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2006
- Baseflow and stormflow metal fluxes from two small agricultural catchments in the Coastal Plain of the Chesapeake Bay Basin, United StatesApplied Geochemistry, 2003
- Preliminary studies on the geochemistry of the Mahanadi River basin, IndiaChemical Geology, 1990
- Nature of the dissolved load of the Krishna River Basin, IndiaJournal of Hydrology, 1988