Studies on organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in sediments of the Cochin

27-30Distributions, seasonal changes and ratios of organic carbon, total phosphorus and total nitrogen have been studied in sediments collected from 4 stations in Cochin backwater, Kerala, India. The observed high organic carbon contents up to 3.84% in the sediments may be due to river discharge bringing in a large amount of water humus and also to high organic production of the overlying water. Total phosphorus distributions also show higher concentrations (0.9-2.4 mg/g), which may be attributed to the influence of domestic waste. Nitrogen/phosphorus ratios indicate that the major portion of phosphorus in the sediments is of abiogenic origin. Correlations between organic carbon and total phosphorus are also discussed