1 - Cochin University of Science and Technology

Chapter 3. Environmental parameters
(l0 Ilg at /1) and highest in 2 nd year monsoon (19.1 Ilg at /1) at area 1. At
area 2, the lowest value was noticed in 1 st year monsoon (5.6 Ilg at /1) and
the highest in 1 st year pre-monsoon (10.9 Ilg at /1). Area 3 showed the
lowest value in 2 nd year post-m on soon (7.3 Ilg at /1) and highest in 2 nd year
monsoon (21.4 Ilg at /1) (Table 3. 1. 10).
3. 1. 5. 3. Nitrite-Nitrogen
Surface: At southern seagrass area, the surface nitrites varied from 0.17 Ilg
at /1 (February 2000) to 2.5 Ilg at /1 (March 2001). At the northern seagrass
area, the value ranged from 0.05 Ilg at /1 (November 2000) to 2.5 Ilg at /1
(February 2001). Minimum surface nitrites recorded at the mangrove area,
was 0.12 Ilg at /1 (March 2000) and the maximum was 3.75 Ilg at /1
(February 2001)(Fig. 3. 11).
The lowest average seasonal value was observed in the 1 st year pre­
monsoon for all three areas (0.3 Ilg at /1,0.4 Ilg at /1 and 0.3 Ilg at /1 for area
I, 2 and 3 respectively) and the highest in 2 nd year pre-monsoon (2.1 Ilg
at/I, 1.5 Ilg at /1 and 1.9 Ilg at /1 for area 1, 2 and 3 respectively) (Table 3. I.
11 ).
Interstitial: The range in interstitial nitrites observed at area 1, area 2 and
area 3 were 0.291lg at /l (August 2000) to 6.67 Ilg at /1 (May 2001), 0.92 Ilg
at /1 (November 1999) to 8.65 Ilg at /1 (February 2001) and 0.56 Ilg at /1
(December 2000) to 7.5 Ilg at /1 (April 2001) respectively (Fig. 3. 12).
The lowest average seasonal value was 0.9 Ilg at /l at area 1 (in both
1 st year pre-monsoon and monsoon). The lowest value was noticed in 2nd year monsoon (2.1 Ilg.at.l) at area 2 and 1 st year monsoon (1.1 Ilg at /1) at
area 3. The highest seasonal averages were seen in 2 nd year pre-monsoon
(5.1 Ilg at /1, 5.1 Ilg at /1 and 3.6 Ilg at /1 respectively for area 1, 2 and 3)
(Table 3. 1. 12).
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