Author(s): Al-Enezi; E. Bockelmann-Evans; B. Falconer
Linked Author(s):
Keywords: Phosphorus adsorption and desorption; Eutrophication; Water quality in estuaries
Abstract: Phosphorus (P) plays an important role in eutrophication of the river and marine environment. The estuary sediment may act as a source or sink of P to the overlaying water column depending on the physico chemical factors. The adsorption – desorption processes of P by estuarine sediment were studied to understand the P behaviour in the Loughor Estuary in Camarthen Bay, UK. Six water and sediment samples were collected from the Loughor Estuary covering incoming and outgoing tidal cycles at different dates. The P desorption from bed and suspended sediment was measured as the easy exchangeable P (MgCl2 extractable). The range of total P in the water samples ranged from 0.04 to 0.18 mg/l (unfiltered water) and the average of total phosphorus in the bed sediment ranged from 0.2 to 0.5 mg/g. The average of adsorbed P in the bed and suspended sediment ranged from 0.0043 to 0.0085 mg/g and from 0.16 to 0.34 mg/g respectively. A negative correlation was found between adsorbed P in bed sediment and median particle size as well as Total Organic Carbon (TOC). And a positive correlation was found between P adsorbed to suspended sediment and the TOC.
Year: 2009