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Distributions and Fluxes of Nitrogen and Phosphorus Nutrients in Porewater Sediments in the Estuary of Jepara Indonesia
 
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Oceanography Department, Diponegoro University, Semarang, Indonesia
 
 
Publication date: 2019-02-01
 
 
Corresponding author
Lilik Maslukah   

Oceanography Department, Diponegoro University, Jl. Prof. Soedarto, SH., 50275 Semarang, Indonesia
 
 
J. Ecol. Eng. 2019; 20(2):58-64
 
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ABSTRACT
River is a location that is responsible for the main transport of nutrient flow from land to estuary and oceans. The nutrients that are adsorbed by the solid phase can be deposited and stored in the sediment. Sediments in estuaries and beaches have an important role in storing or removing nutrients from or to the water column. The presence of nutrients in porewater interacts with sediment and water column. In general, the nutrients that have a role as limiting factors for life in the waters are nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). The release of N and P elements is very important for the estuary and coastal environment, related to the process of regenerating nutrients into the water column. The release mechanism is determined by a diffusion process, based on the difference of concentration between the water column and the porewater. This study aims to determine the concentration of N and P in the porewater and estimate the value of flux. The sediment samples were taken from the Wiso and Serang estuary, Jepara. The components that were analyzed in the porewater are the concentration of N (nitrate, nitrite) and P (phosphate). Nitrite, nitrate and phosphate were determined by using sulphanilamide method and the molybdenum blue method, respectively. Furthermore, the flux value (F) was calculated based on the Fick's I Law which was corrected by porosity. The results show that the mean concentrations of nitrate (NO3-), nitrite (NO2-) and phosphate (PO42-) in the sediment water of Serang Estuary are 1.96, 1.41, 3.46 μM and in the Wiso estuary are 3.4, 1.85, 8.22 μM. In general, based on the calculation of flux, the sediments in the Serang and Wiso estuaries have a positive flux. Moreover, the sediment in Jepara acts as a source and releases N and P nutrient into the water column. The Wiso estuary has a higher flux than the Serang estuary.
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