Acta Geographica Sinica ›› 2002, Vol. 57 ›› Issue (4): 407-412.doi: 10.11821/xb200204004

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Seasonal Variation of Inorganic Nitrogen in Water and Sediment of Intertidal Flats on the Shanghai Coast

GAO Xiaojiang1, ZHANG Nianli1, CHEN Zhenlou2, XU Shiyuan2, CHEN Limin1   

  1. 1. Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China;
    2. Department of Geography, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
  • Received:2001-09-10 Revised:2002-04-25 Online:2002-07-25 Published:2002-07-25
  • Supported by:

    National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 49901015, 40131020 and 40173030

Abstract:

In 1998-1999, contents of inorganic nitrogen (NH4-N, NO3-N and NO2-N) in water and sediment of intertidal flats of the Shanghai coast were investigated at three stations (CY, DH and LY). Results show that the main form of inorganic nitrogen in water of intertidal flats is of NO3-N with a wide range (37.2~226.1 mol-1); most of exchangeable N in surface intertidal sediments is of NH4-N, accounting for 70%~85%; NH4-N and NO3-N are the main form of inorganic N in pore water of surface sediments. Content distributions of NH4-N, NO3-N and NO2-N in water and sediment of intertidal flats vary seasonally. The basic factors affecting the seasonal variation of inorganic N were discussed. Moreover, the diffusion fluxes of NH4-N, NO3-N and NO2-N between water and intertidal sediment interface were estimated, indicating that NH4-N in sediments may play an important role in the Yangtze estuarine and coastal environment.

Key words: inorganic nitrogen, distribution, water and sediment, intertidal flat