Estuaries are known to be strong source for atmospheric CO2, however, little information is available from Indian estuaries. In order to quantify CO2 emissions from the Indian estuaries, samples were collected at 27 estuaries all along the Indian coast during discharge (wet) period. The emissions of CO2 to the atmosphere from Indian estuaries were 4–5 times higher during wet than dry period. The pCO2 ranged between ∼300 and 18492 μatm which are within the range of world estuaries. The mean pCO2 and particulate organic carbon (POC) showed positive relation with rate of discharge suggesting availability of high quantities of organic matter that led to enhanced microbial decomposition. The annual CO2 fluxes from the Indian estuaries, together with dry period data available in the literature, amounts to 1.92 TgC which is >10 times less than that from the European estuaries. The low CO2 fluxes from the Indian estuaries are attributed to low flushing rates and less human settlements along the banks of the Indian estuaries.
The distribution and sources of particulate organic carbon (POC) and nitrogen (PN) in 27 Indian estuaries were examined during the monsoon using the content and isotopic composition of carbon and nitrogen. Higher phytoplankton biomass was noticed in estuaries with deeper photic zone than other estuaries receiving higher suspended matter. The δ 13 C POC and δ 15 N PN data suggest that relatively higher δ 13 C POC (À27.9 to À22.6‰) and lower δ 15 N PN (0.7 to 5.8‰) were noticed in the estuaries located in the northern India, north of 16°N, and lower δ 13 C POC (À31.4 to À28.2‰) and higher δ 15 N PN (5 to 10.3‰) in the estuaries located in the southern India. This is associated with higher Chl a in the northern than southern estuaries suggesting that in situ production contributed significantly to the POC pool in the former, whereas terrestrial sources are important in the latter estuaries. The spatial distribution pattern of δ 15 N PN is consistent with fertilizer consumption in the Indian subcontinent, which is twice as much in the northern India as in the south whereas δ 13 C POC suggests that in situ production is a dominant source in the southern and terrestrial sources are important in the northern estuaries. Based on the Stable Isotope Analysis in R model, 40-90% (70-90%) of organic matter is contributed by C 3 plants (freshwater algae) in the estuaries located in the northern (southern) India.
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