“Investigation of Nutrient Release from Pore Water of Küçükçekmece Lagoon (Istanbul) Sediment”.

Abstract

Conservation of biological diversity and ensuring the sustainability of natural resources are very important for the future of our world. Gradual reduction and pollution of water sources threaten natural life. Küçükçekmece Lagoon and Basin are adversely affected in this respect. However, the Lagoon is rich in biodiversity, a wetland of international importance, a shelter and feeding area for a large number of water birds. But, growing industrialization, settlements lacking basic infrastructure, and uncontrolled discharge of wastewater in the region greatly influence the lagoon. As a result of discharge of untreated industrial and domestic wastewater elevates the pollution load of the Lagoon, not only in the water body but also in the sediment, the sustainability of the lagoon is adversely affected.Nutrients in sediment pore water from Küçükçekmece Lagoon were investigated in this study. Sediment samples were collected at a four-station with a gravity core on a bimonthly basis from May 2014 to June 2015. Average Total Nitrogen (TN) and Total Phosphorus (TP) contents of the pore waters were measured as 45.62 mg /l and 1.30 mg/l in the Lagoon, respectively. On the other hand, the average releasing concentration of these nutrients was 56,596.03 mg/m2 day1 and 1,478,203.38 mg/m2 day1 in the Lagoon, respectively. Deep Station has the anoxic condition and higher values were measured in this station comparing to shallow ones. Statistical differences were observed between the deep and shallow stations for the nutrients, however, generally, no differences were recorded in the physical parameters (ρ < 0.05).