Organic Chemistry: Current Research
Open Access
ISSN: 2161-0401
+44 1478 350008
ISSN: 2161-0401
+44 1478 350008
R. Ray, T Rixen, A Baum and T K Jana
Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology, Germany
University of Calcutta, India
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Organic Chem Curr Res
We studied in the Indian Sundarbans and Hooghly estuarine system adjacent to the coastal Bay of Bengal during 2014 to examine the sources, transport and distribution of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), particulate organic carbon (POC) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). In this study, both stable isotopes (13C, 15N), elemental content (C, N) and their ratios in the suspended matter of Hooghly confirms its terrestrial source which is replaced by in situ production in the Sundarbans. DOC is the dominant form of the organic matter (OM) in the studied estuarine waters (DOC = 280�±40 �¼M versus POC = 25�±9 �¼M) and represents mixture of C3 dominated mangrove leaf litter and riverine sources. Microbial degradation of land derived OM results in a high pCO2 in the Hooghly estuarine waters while an enrichment of �´13C-DIC ascribes to the in situ production in the Sundarbans water. Higher �´15N in the particulate organic nitrogen (PON) of the mangrove and marine zone could be associated with an enhanced phytoplankton production which is sustained by nitrate originated from mangrove derived OM decomposition and/or nitrate imported from the Bay of Bengal. Low organic carbon contents and elemental ratios (TN/ TOC) indicate an intense mineralization and transformation of OM within the sediments, resulting significant deviation of its composition from that of three major sources i.e. land derived organic matter, mangrove leaf litter (Avicennia marina) and in situ phytoplankton.