Microplastics in the environment and in commercially significant fishes of mud banks, an ephemeral ecosystem formed along the southwest coast of India.

Microplastic pollution and the impacts they generate on the marine ecosystem and its biota is a major global concern of recent decades. The present study was conducted to evaluate the spatio-temporal distribution of microplastics in the surface waters, sediments, and their subsequent ingestion by the commercially important fishes of Alappuzha Mud banks, a transient ecosystem formed in the littoral zones of the southwest coast of India exclusively during the Indian summer monsoon. Sampling conducted over three periods, Pre-mud bank (Pre-MB), Mud bank (MB), and Post mud bank (Post-MB) extending over three depths (2 m, 5 m and 18 m), along the semi-circular patch of mudbanks revealed marked spatio-temporal variability in microplastic distribution. In both surface water and sediments, microplastic concentration was comparatively high during MB than in Pre-MB and Post-MB periods. Spatially, during MB, the microplastic concentration was high at 5 m where the dampening of waves occurred concomitant to the thick fluid mud formation. In contrast, during Post-MB, with the subsequent dissipation of MB's and less wave dampening, the microplastics aggregated at 5 m were transported to both inshore (2 m) and offshore (18 m), thus raising their concentration at these depths. Likewise, the microplastic ingestion was more in fishes caught during MB (41%) than Post-MB (30%) and Pre-MB (29%) periods indicating increased uptake corresponding to the higher incidences in their ambient environment. Microplastic ingestion was more among pelagic planktivores, S. gibbosa (38%), A. chacunda (20%) and R. kanagurta (13%) compared to the demersal fishes. White coloured fragments of size 1-5 mm of polypropylene were the dominant microplastic in the surface waters, sediment and fishes analysed. The present study indicates the critical role of wind speed, rainfall, wave patterns, and the fluid muddy environment in regulating the microplastics distribution in a transient ecosystem formed along the southwest coast of India.

Input-export fluxes of heavy metals in the Cochin estuary, southwest coast of India.

Cochin estuary (CE) is one of the largest tropical estuaries along the southwest coast of India, sustaining rich bio-resources. Several studies enlighten the environmental changes in the CE caused by anthropogenic activities. In the present study, an attempt has been made to quantify the heavy metal (dissolved and particulate) fluxes brought by the six rivers into the CE with their exchange into the coastal ocean through the major inlet at Cochin during a steady flow period (October-November 2015). The water flux across the inlet was quantified using an acoustic doppler current profiler. The measured daily input of dissolved metals from the rivers was 2.43 × 103 kg Fe, 334 kg Zn, 259 kg Ni, and 83 kg Cr, while that of particulate metals were 85.30 × 103 kg Fe, 8. 6 × 103 kg Mn, 236.9 kg Cr, and 111.9 kg Zn. The net export of metals through the Cochin inlet (per tidal cycle) was 3.3 × 103 kg Fe, 515 kg Cr, 150 kg Zn, and 5 kg Ni in dissolved form and 3.32 × 105 kg Fe, 1747 kg Mn, 1636 kg Cr, 1397 kg Zn, and 586 kg Ni in particulate form. The high concentrations of metals during ebb tides are clear indications of their contribution from the industrial conglomerates (industrial units of metallurgy, catalyst, fertilizer, and pesticides) located in the Periyar River. The significance of this study is that the export fluxes may increase further during the summer monsoon (June to September), which may impact the abundant fishery emanating in the coastal environment during the period due to intense upwelling.

Seasonal spreading and transport of buoyant plumes in the shelf off Kochi, South west coast of India- A modeling approach.

We investigated the seasonal spreading and transport of buoyant plume in the shelf off Kochi using Finite Volume Community Ocean Model (FVCOM). The modelled river plume typically consisted of an offshore bulge and a coastal current. The spreading of the bulge extended up to a distance of 19 km from inlet during the summer monsoon to <10 km in the spring inter-monsoon. The Kelvin number varied between 0.1 and 0.9 which revealed that the plume exhibited both the features of small and large scale plumes, resulting in a highly complicated plume pattern. During the southwest monsoon the plume fringe twisted towards the south, while during the northeast monsoon it twisted towards north according to the reversal of monsoonal winds. The fresh water transport with respect to coastal currents varied in accordance with seasonal river discharge such that the value peaked in the wet season and dropped in the dry season. During the non-realistic (no wind) condition the plume initiated barotropic and baroclinic flow, after which it was acted upon by earth's rotation so that the plume propagated in the direction of Coriolis force (towards north), as geostrophic currents. The model run 'with wind' and 'without wind' condition revealed that in the shelf off Kochi the plume is transported in accordance with monsoonal winds/currents by nullifying the effect of earth's rotation. The categorization of plume influenced area and realization of the direction of plume transport can be used for interpreting the dynamically and potentially active zones in the shelf off Kochi.