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Mud banks of Kerala (southwest coast of India) are renowned for immense fish harvesting during the southwest monsoon season. Although inclement weather and turbulent waves during monsoon prevent vessels sailing into the sea, the tranquil mud banks provide a natural platform for artisanal fishing. Despite several attempts over the past 6 decades, the formation and sustenance of these mud banks remain scientifically unexplained. In this study, we analyzed the geochemical properties of sediments and fluid mud collected from Alappuzha mud banks. The sediments were mostly silty clay (relative abundance of kaolinite [35%–67%] and montmorillonite [25%–45%]), whereas the fluid mud was purely fine clay (montmorillonite [47%–67%] and kaolinite [29%–45%]). Phosphorus content was exceptionally high in the fluid mud (2240–2634 μ g/g) and sediments (1559–3013 μ g/g). Laboratory experiments showed an increase in volume and a decrease in the settling rate of sediments spiked with varying proportions of montmorillonite and phosphorus. Natural conditions such as winds, waves, currents, or terrestrial factors dislodged the sediments into the water column. Natural sedimentation of clay particles results in the rapid flocculation of large particles (kaolinite and illite), whereas light particles (montmorillonite) remain suspended in the water column for a longer time. During this period, phosphate anions (or any oxyanions) geochemically interact with montmorillonite as well as with its interlayer cations in the following ways: (i) the ligand exchange reaction between the edge hydroxyl groups of mineral with phosphate anions increase the size and negative charge of the clay particles and (ii) phosphate anions effectively adsorb to the interlayer cations. The resultant strong interparticle repulsive force stabilizes the clay suspension, and thereafter, (iii) the intercalation of organic moieties stably converts the hydrophilic clay suspension into a hydrophobic suspension. Results of bulk geochemical parameters along the southwest coast of India show that montmorillonite and phosphorus-rich sediments are the unique properties of Alappuzha mud banks, which lead to their recurrent formation.

The southwest coast of India is known to experience two concurrent processes during the southwest monsoon, namely coastal upwelling and mud banks at selected stretches such as that off Alappuzha. The mud bank sediments were found to contain very high concentrations of phosphorus (ave. 2255 ± 278 μ g/g), and the present study measured changes in concentration of elements such as carbon, phosphorus, iron, and manganese within the Alappuzha mud banks, to understand the influence of upwelling on the cycling of these elements. The results showed that coastal upwelling led to hypoxic conditions within the mud bank region during the peak southwest monsoon, which induced significant changes in the phosphorus fractions in the sediments. There was an enrichment of iron, caused by the efflux of reactive Fe from the subsurface sediment layers and depletion of manganese, due to reductive dissolution of Mn oxides and subsequent release of Mn. The low molar ratios of total organic carbon to total nitrogen (9 ± 1) and total organic carbon to organic phosphorus (118 ± 57) generally indicated that the organic matter was relatively fresh and derived from marine plankton. Sedimentary phosphorus also exhibited wide fluctuations in its geochemical forms during hypoxia. Five geochemical forms of P such as exchangeable P (Ex-P), Fe and Mn bound P (Fe-P), P from Al oxides, non-reducible Fe bound P and organic P (Non Red-P), calcium bound P (Ca-P) and refractory organic P (ROP) were extracted, adopting sequential extraction procedure. The percentage contribution of various P forms were 2%–11% Ex-P, 4%–25% Fe-P, 4%–10% Non Red-P, 60%–78% Ca-P and 4%–12% ROP. The fractionation study revealed that precipitation of apatite and vivianite are the significant pathways of phosphorus enrichment in mud bank sediments. The study indicates that the enrichment of labile P fractions could be mediating the enhancement in biological production in the Alappuzha mud banks during the southwest monsoon.

Surface sediments samples were collected from 9 stations of the Cochin estuary during the monsoon, post-monsoon and pre-monsoon seasons and were analyzed for grain size, total organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN) and stable isotopic ratios of carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ(¹⁵N) to identify major sources of organic matter in surface sediments. Sediment grain size is found to be the key factor influencing the organic matter accumulation in surface sediments. The δ¹³C values ranges from -27.5‰ to -21.7‰ in surface sediments with a gradual increase from inner part of the estuary to the seaward side that suggest an increasing contribution of marine autogenous organic matter towards the seaward side. The δ¹⁵N value varies between 3.1‰ and 6.7‰ and it exhibits complex spatial and seasonal distributions in the study area. It is found that the dynamic cycling of nitrogen through various biogeochemical and organic matter degradation processes modifies the OC/TN ratios and δ¹⁵N to a considerable degree. The fraction of terrestrial organic matter in the total organic matter pool ranges from 13% to 74% in the surface sediments as estimated by δ¹³C based two end member mixing model.

The distribution and accumulation of the rare earth elements (REE) in the sediments of the Cochin Estuary and adjacent continental shelf were investigated. The rare earth elements like La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu and the heavy metals like Mg, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, U, Th were analysed by using standard analytical methods. The Post-Archean Australian Shale composition was used to normalise the rare earth elements. It was found that the sediments were more enriched with the lighter rare earth elements than the heavier ones. The positive correlation between the concentrations of REE, Fe and Mn could explain the precipitation of oxyhydroxides in the study area. The factor analysis and correlation analysis suggest common sources of origin for the REEs. From the Ce-anomalies calculated, it was found that an oxic environment predominates in all stations except the station No. 2. The Eu-anomaly gave an idea that the origin of REEs may be from the feldspar. The parameters like total organic carbon, U/Th ratio, authigenic U, Cu/Zn, V/Cr ratios revealed the oxic environment and thus the depositional behaviour of REEs in the region.

The distribution and accumulation of trace metals in the sediments of the Cochin estuary during the pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon periods were investigated. Sediment samples from 14 locations were collected and analysed for the metal contents (Mg, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb), organic carbon, total nitrogen, total sulphur and grain size. The data were processed using statistical tools like correlation, factor and cluster analysis. The study revealed an enrichment of Cd and Zn in the study area particularly at station 2, which is confirmed by enrichment factor, contamination factor and geoaccumulation index. The factor analysis revealed that the source of Cd and Zn may be same. The study indicated that the spatial variation for the metals like Mg, Cr, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb were predominant unlike Mn which shows a temporal variation. The strong association of trace metals with Fe and Mn hydroxides and oxides are prominent along the Cochin estuary. The anthropogenic inputs of industrial effluents mainly control the trace metals enrichment in the Cochin estuary.

Temporal and spatial variations of heavy metals in the Cochin estuary and its adjacent coastline during three seasons were studied to investigate the impact of anthropogenic heavy metal pollution. Total organic carbon, sand, silt, clay and 10 metals (Cd, Pb, Cr, Ni, Co, Cu, Zn, Mn, Mg and Fe) in the surface sediments were analysed. Multivariate statistical analyses like canonical correspondence analysis, principal component analysis and cluster analysis were used for source identification, integration of geochemical data and clustering of stations based on similarities. Enrichment factor, contamination factor and geoaccumulation index were used to assess the contamination level. From the study, it can be understood that estuary and coast are highly polluted especially with Cd, Zn, Pb and Ni. Anthropogenic influence of heavy metals was evidenced from both the principal component analysis and cluster analysis. Finer fractions (mud) of the sediment and the associated Fe oxy hydroxides might be playing major role in the transport of heavy metals in the system. Very high enrichment factor value observed suggested high anthropogenic pressure in the study area. All the stations in the northern part of the estuary showed very high enrichment factors indicating heavy load of Zn and Cd in this area which might have reached from the industrial area lying to the north side of the Cochin estuary. Pollution indices suggested that both the estuary and its adjacent coast were showing low contamination with respect to Cr, Mg, Mn and Fe; all other metals were causing low to extremely high levels of pollution in the study area.

Surface sediments samples from the Cochin estuary were measured for elemental, stable isotopic and molecular biomarkers (aliphatic hydrocarbons and fatty acids) to study the sources and distribution of sedimentary organic matter. Concentrations of total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN) and stable isotopic ratios of carbon (δ13C) ranged from 0.62 to 2.74 %, 0.09 to 0.25 % and −27.5 to 21.7 ‰, respectively. Sedimentary n-alkanes ranged from 6.03 to 43.23 μg g−1 with an average of 16.79 μg g−1, while total fatty acids varied from 22.55 to 440.69 μg g−1. The TOC/TN ratios and δ13C suggest a mixture of marine- and terrestrial-derived organic matter in the surface sediments with increasing contributions from marine-derived organic matter towards the seaward side. Long-chain n-alkanes derived from higher plants predominated the inner part of the estuary, while short-chain n-alkanes derived from planktonic sources predominated the bar mouth region. The even carbon preference of the C12–C22 n-alkanes may refer to the direct biogenic contribution from bacteria, fungi and yeast species and to the potential direct petroleum inputs. The presence of odd mid-chain n-alkanes in the sediments indicates the organic matter inputs from submerged and floating macrophytes (water hyacinth). Various molecular indices such as carbon preference index, terrestrial to aquatic ratio, average chain length and the ratios of mid-chain n-alkanes support the aforementioned inferences. The high contribution of odd and branched chain fatty acids along with very low contribution of polyunsaturated fatty acids, suggest the effective utilisation of algae-derived organic matter by bacteria and the effective recycling of labile organic matter in whole settling and deposition processes. The distributional variability of n-alkanes and fatty acids reveals the preferential utilisation of marine-derived organic matter and the selective preservation of terrestrial-derived organic matter in surface sediments of the Cochin estuary.

Sequential chemical extraction using chelating agents were used to study the P dynamics and its bioavailability along the surface sediments of the Cochin estuary (southwest coast of India). Sediments were analyzed for major P species (iron bound P, calcium bound P, acid soluble organic P, alkali soluble organic P and residual organic P), Fe, Ca, total carbon, organic carbon, total nitrogen and total sulfur contents. An abrupt increase in the concentration of dissolved inorganic P with increasing salinity was observed in the study region. Iron-bound P exhibited a distinct seasonal pattern with maximum values in the monsoon season when fresh water condition was prevailed in the estuary. As salinity increased, the percentage of iron-bound P decreased, while that of calcium-bound P and total sedimentary sulfur increased. C/P and N/P ratios were low which indicate that large amounts of organic matter enriched with P tend to accumulate in surface sediments. The high organic P contribution in the sedimentary P pool may indicate high organic matter load with incomplete mineralization, as well as comparatively greater percentage of humic substance and resistant organic compounds. Principal component analysis is employed to find the possible processes influencing the speciation of P in the study region and indicate the following processes: (1) the spatial and seasonal variations of calcium bound P and acid soluble organic P was mainly controlled by sediment texture and organic carbon content, (2) sediment redox conditions control the distribution of iron bound P and (3) the terrigenous input of organic P is a significant processes controlling total P content in surface sediments. The bioavailable P was very high in the surface sediments which on an average accounts for 59 % in the pre-monsoon, 65 % in the monsoon and 53 % in the post-monsoon seasons. The surface sediments act as a potential internal source of P in the Cochin estuary.