Ionic composition, source identification of rainwater, and its contribution to nutrient deposition in monsoon, over Sundarban Mangrove forest

Abstract

A detailed study on potential sources, variation, and environmental effects of the rainwater ions was carried out at Lothian Island, Sundarban mangrove forest, India, during the southwest monsoon (June–September) in 2019. On an event basis, the maximum rainwater precipitation was observed 17.65 mm Day ⁻¹ and a minimum of 1.02 mm Day ⁻¹. The maximum amount of total precipitation was recorded in the month of July (237 mm). The volume weighted mean (VWM) concentration shows that the total ionic composition was 93.7 μeq L⁻¹, whereas the percentage contribution of the total ionic concentration is found to be 45.97% to anions and 54.02% to the cations. Temporal variation was observed between early (June- July) and late monsoon (August—September), which shows a high concentration of major ions in early monsoon and low concentration in late monsoon due to the washout of atmospheric particles with the frequent and increasing precipitation. The pH values of the 78% samples show neutral pH and neutralization factors (NF) followed a sequence of NF_Ca ˃NF_Mg ˃ NF_NH4 with factors of 0.77, 0.34, and 0.14 indicating Ca²⁺ was the most potential species to balance the acidic ions (NO₃⁻, SO₄²⁻) over the study area. Source apportionment study indicates the significant influence of marine actions (long-range transport by monsoonal wind from marine origin, Sea spray, salty soil profile of mangrove) as the major source of ions over Sundarban. The rate of nutrient wet deposition in the form of rainwater was estimated and average monsoonal nitrogen flux was observed 0.87 kg ha⁻¹where NO₃ contributes the most (0.60 kg ha⁻¹). N and P deposition flux also showed a simultaneous pattern with the seasonal nutrient concentration of surrounding river water, which may be an indication of a possible contribution of atmospheric wet deposition in the spike of monsoonal nutrient concentration in river water.