HEAVY METAL FRACTIONATION IN RIVEER SEDIMENTS OF CAUVERY DELTA REGION Thesis submitted to Bharathidasan University for the award of the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT By Mr. S. DHANAKUMAR Under the Supervision of Dr. R. MOHANRAJ DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES BHARATHIDASAN UNIVERSITY TIRUCHIRAPPALLI – 620 024 TAMILNADU INDIA MAY – 2012 Department of Environmental Management School of Environmental Sciences Bharathidasan University Tiruchirappalli- 620 024 Tamil Nadu, India Dr. R. MOHANRAJ E-mail : [email protected] Assistant Professor Phone : 91-431-2407071 Extn: 640 CERTIFICATE This is to certify that this thesis entitled “HEAVY METAL FRACTIONATION IN RIVER SEDIMENTS OF CAUVERY DELTA REGION” submitted by Mr. S. DHANAKUMAR, for the ddegree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Bharathidasan University is based on the results of studies carried out by him under my supervision and guidance. This thesis or any part thereof has not been submitted elsewhere for any other degree. Place: Tiruchirappalli Date: (R. MOHANRAJ) DECLARATION I do hereby declare that this work has been originally carried out by me under the supervision and guidance of Dr. R. Mohanraj, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Management, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli and this work has not been submitted elsewhere for any other degree, diploma or other similar titles. Place: Tiruchirappalli Date : (S. DHANAKUMAR) ACKNOWLEDGEMENT My foremost thanks and offerings are due to the Insurmountable, Invincible and Irrepressible power of the Almighty for being an able ally and helping me to cross many boundaries to reach the present position. I hope it would continue to serve as a beacon in all my future endeavors. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my Research Supervisor Dr. R. Mohanraj, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Management for providing me an opportunity to do research under his supervision, mentoring and being a constant source of inspiration for me throughout the research period. It is an honor to be his first Ph.D. student and the intellectual inputs and training imparted by him during my stint under his guidance has resolved me to face my future career with confidence. His methodological approach has imbibed in me the quality to work in various research aspects with clarity and execute autonomously. My profound sense of thanks is to Dr. M. Ravichandran, Professor and Head, Department of Environmental Management for the care and enthusiasm he has shown for my research which was the motivational factor, even during tough times in the Ph.D. pursuit. I express my gratitude to my doctoral committee member Dr. N.D. Shrinithivihahshini for her moral support and timely help throughout my research period. I would like to thank Dr. M. Prashanthi Devi for lending a helping hand by valuable inputs, discussions and motivation during the course of the study. Also I would like to express my sincere thanks to Dr. M. Krishnan, Chair, School of Environmental Sciences for his timing help to my research work. My deep sense of gratitude are due to Dr. K. Kumaraswamy, Professor, Dept of Geography, Bharathidasan University, Dr. R. Babu Rajendran, Associate Professor, Dr. M. Govindaraju, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Biotechnology for the support rendered by them in completion of my research work. I would like to thank Dr. R. Arthur James, Assistant Professor, Department of Marine Science, Dr. C. Lakshumanan, Assistant Professor, Center for Remote sensing, Dr. S. Rajakumar, Assistant Professor, Department of Marine Biotechnology, Dr. N. Jawahar Raj, Assistant Professor, Department of Geology, National College, Tiruchirappalli for their timely support, motivation and care during the study period. I am grateful to Dr. P. Lakshmanaperumalsamy, Registrar, Karpagam University, Coimbatore, Dr. M. Usharani, Professor and Head, Department of Environmental Sciences, Bharathiar University, Dr. M. Muthukumar, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Dr. K. Kalaivani, Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Dr. K. Krishnamurthy, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, Kongunadu Arts and Science College, Coimbatore for their outstanding teaching skills which motivated me to carryout higher studies. I feel worthy to record my thanks to Dr. S. Pattabhi, Professor and Head, Department of Environmental Sciences, PSG College, Coimbatore, Dr. U. Mani and Dr. R.C. Murthy, IITR, Lucknow for extending their instrumental facilities and valuable inputs. I feel wordless to thank my academic brothers Dr. S. Somasundaram, Dr. K. Thangaraj for their constructive role in my education career since from under graduation. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to my seniors Dr. M.V. Sureshkumar, Dr. A. Kannan, Dr. A. Noorjahan, Dr. A. Williams, Dr. V.R. Muthukumaran, Dr. C. Kanagaraj, Dr. K. Padmanaban, Dr. S. Karthik, Mr. Kishore for their valuable inputs and suggestions. I have no word to express my greatness to Mr. K. Rutharvel Murthy, Research Scholar, Department of Geography for churning out moments of scholarly discussion, inputs, memorable support and being alongside by me during on and off field happenings during this research work. My thanks to Mr. Veeramani, Mr. Seenivasan, Mr. Faize, Mr. Solaraj, Mr. Sirajuddin, Mr. Arivoli, Mrs. Manjula Menon, Ms. Brindha, Ms. Vidyalakshmi, Ms. Chitra Devi, Mr. Balamurugan, Ms. Sheela Mary, Mr. Saravanan, Mr. Mahamuni, Ms. Nithya and Mr. Viji Research Scholars, Department of Environmental Management, Bharathidasan University for their help and cooperation. Special thanks are due to my pals Mr. Ganeshkumar, Mr. Vivek, Mr. Dass Prakash, Mr. Krishnakumar, Mr. Pandiyarajan, Mr. G. Shivaprabhu, Mr. Prabharkaran, Mr. Rajesh, Mr. Vignesh, Mr. Muthukumar, Mr. Rameshkumar, Mr. Karthikeyan, Mr. Kanagaraj, Mr. Srimurali, Mr. Krishnakumar, Mr. Puhalendi, Mr. Suryakumar, Ms. Machlein Rani, Mrs. Jayalakshmi and Mrs. Dhanamani for being the Stress-busters and staying by me through the thick and thin of things. Thanks to them for transforming moments of uncertainties and sulkiness into uplifting ones. I would like to express my sincere thanks to MBA students, Mr. Suresh, Mr. Hariram, Mr. Manikannan, Mr. Alwin, Mr. Sudhakar, Mr. Pandiyarajan, Mr. Ramkumar, Ms. Buguna, Mr. Elencharan, Mr. Pounraj, Mr. Benedict, Mr. Anjalin, Mr. Arun Shankar and Mr. Anbarasan for their timely help. I take this opportunity to thank Mr. Kumaraesan, Mrs. Chitra, Mr. Thirunavukarsu, Mr. Thiyagarajan, Non-teaching staff members, Department of Environmental Management for their official assistance throughout the research work. Also I would like to mention the financial assistance provided by the Bharathidasan University in the form of University Research Fellowship during my tenure of the study and thank them profoundly for the timely help. I am at loss of words to describe the support extended by my family members. But for the unflinching faith and unbridled love reposed on me by my parents, Mr. R. Selvaraj and Mrs. S. Kalavathi, my brother Mr. Sivakumar, my sister Mrs. Leelavathi, my brother in law Mr. Kuppuraj, and cuties R.K. Praveenkumar and S. Dhanavarshini. I am sure that I would not have had the strength to complete the task successfully. I thank them for their patience and bearing with me for shunning most of the domestic responsibilities during this period. Finally I would like to thank everyone who had helped me in macro and micro level all along my research period. S. DHANAKUMAR DDeeddiiccaatteedd ttoo mmyy FFaammiillyy aanndd MMeennttoorrss CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 General introduction 1.1. River basin degradation and pollution 1 1.2. Metal chemistry in sediments 3 1.3. Metal toxicity 7 1.4. Ecological effects 8 1.5. Objective of the current study 9 1.6. Structure of the thesis 9 CHAPTER 2 Study area 2.1. Background 10 2.2. Bhavani River 10 2.3. Noyyal River 11 2.4. Amaravathi River 11 2.5. Cauvery delta region 12 2.6. Geology 13 2.7. Climate 14 2.8. Rainfall 14 2.9. Water flow 15 2.10.Temperature 16 2.11.Agriculture 17 2.12. Sampling locations for the current study 18 CHAPTER-3 Surface water quality of River Cauvery in delta region 3.1. Background 25 3.1.1. Surface water in Indian context 25 3.1.2. Surface water resources and economy 27 3.1.3. Surface water scarcity 27 3.1.4. Surface water pollution 28 3.1.5. Water quality in River Cauvery and its tributaries 33 3.2. Materials and Methods 35 3.3. Results and discussion 3.3.1. pH, Electrical conductivity and total solids 36 3.3.2. Major anions and fluoride 37 3.3.3. Major cations 39 3.3.4. Dissolved oxygen and organic load 40 3.3.5. Nutrients 41 3.3.6. Correlation analysis 42 3.3.7. Factor analysis 3.3.7.1. Dry season 45 3.3.7.2. Wet season 47 3.3.8. Cluster analysis 49 3.4. Conclusion 49 CHAPTER-4 Surface sediment characteristics and heavy metal distribution in River Cauvery in delta region 4.1. Background 51 4.1.1. Ecological significance of river sediments 52 4.1.2. Sediment dynamics and Pollution 53 4.1.3. Heavy metals in sediments 55 4.1.4. Heavy metal distribution in Cauvery delta region 59 4.2. Materials and methods 61 4.3. Results and discussion 4.3.1. Sediment characteristics 61 4.3.2. Organic carbon 62 4.3.3. Nutrients 67 4.3.4. Nutrient ratios 68 4.3.5. Heavy metal distribution in surface sediments 70 4.3.6. Assessment of risk by the presence of heavy metals 4.3.6.1. Sediment quality guidelines 75 4.3.6.2. Geo accumulation Index (Igeo) 76 4.3.7. Principal component analysis 77 4.4. Conclusion 78 Chapter-5 Heavy metal fractionation in surface sediments of River Cauvery in delta region 5.1. Background 79 5.1.1. Metal speciation and fractionation 80 5.1.2. Sequential extraction scheme 83 5.1.3. Role of metal fractionation studies on source 84 apportionment 5.1.4.