Affiliations: National Environmental Engineering Research Institute,
Nagpur – 440 020, India | Department of Environmental Sciences, Andhra
University, Visakhapatnam – 530 003, India
Abstract: This paper examined nutrient dissolved metal concentration in Bhavanapadu mangrove ecosystem
at North Coastal Andhra Pradesh in the east coast of India – the area studied. Surface water samples were
collected from the different regions of mangrove-creek complex during the post-monsoon season. There was distinct
variation in chemical constituents of water among the creek, mangrove and bay region. Physicochemical parameters like
pH, EC and TDS and nutrients like NO_3 and PO_4 varied significantly among three
sectors. The cations like K^+, Ca^{2+} and NH_4
and anions like SO_4^{2-}, HCO_3^- and SiO_2 didn't
showed any significant variation. There is high concentration of dissolved metal in this mangrove system. The above fact will
reveal that mangrove is facing severe threat due to industrial pollution. The metals, Cu, Zn and Co showed higher affinity,
while Pb and Cr also result in strong coupling with each other.
Keywords: Water quality, heavy metals (water, sediment), estuary, mangrove, India, geochemistry, stratification, coastal area, pollution, surface sediment
