Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Variability in stratification and flushing times of the Gautami–Godavari estuary, India

  • Published:
Journal of Earth System Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In order to examine the influence of forcing (river flow and tides) and anthropogenic activities (dredging and dam regulation) on stratification, a study was conducted over a period of 19 months (June 2008–December 2009) in the Gautami–Godavari estuary (G–GE) during spring and neap tide periods covering entire spectrum of discharge over a distance of 36 km from the mouth. The bathymetry of the estuary was recently changed due to dredging of ∼20 km of the estuary from the mouth for transportation of barges. This significantly changed the mean depth and salinity of the estuary from its earlier state. The variations in the distribution of salinity in the Godavari estuary are driven by river discharge during wet period (June–November) and tides during dry period (December–May). The weak stratification was observed during high discharge (July–August) and no discharge (January–June) periods associated with dominant fresh water and marine water respectively. The strong stratification was developed associated with decrease in discharge during moderate discharge period (October–December). Relatively stronger stratification was noticed during neap than spring tides. The 15 psu isohaline was observed to have migrated ∼2–3 km more towards upper estuary during spring than neap tide suggesting more salt enters during former than latter period. Total salt content was inversely correlated with river discharge and higher salt of about 400×106 m3 psu was observed during spring than neap tide. Flushing times varied between less than a day and more than a month during peak and no discharge periods respectively with lower times during spring than neap tide. The flushing times are controlled by river discharge during high discharge period, tides during dry period and both (river discharge and tides) under moderate discharge period. This study suggests that modification of discharge, either natural due to weak monsoon, or artificial such as dam constructions and re-routing the river flow, may have significant impact on the stratification and biogeochemistry of the Godavari estuary.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Acharyya T 2012 Variability of phytoplankton pigment composition in a tropical monsoon driven estuary (Godavari, India): Natural and anthropogenic influences; PhD thesis, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam.

  • Acharyya T, Sarma V V S S, Sridevi B, Venkataramana V, Bharathi M D, Naidu S, Kumar B S K, V R P., Bandopadhyay D, Reddy N P C and Kumar M D 2012 Reduced river discharge intensifies phytoplankton bloom in Godavari estuary, India; Mar. Chem. 132–133 15–22.

  • Bowden K F 1980 Chemistry and biogeochemistry of estuaries (eds) Olaussian E and Cato J, John Wiley & Sons, New York.

  • Cameron W M and Pritchard D W 1963 Estuaries; In: The Sea (ed.) Hill M N, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 2 306–324.

  • Dyer K R 1973 Estuaries: A Physical Introduction; 2nd edn, John Wiley & Sons, London.

  • Hansen D V and Rattray M 1966 New dimensions in estuary classification; Limnol. Oceanogr. 11 319–326.

  • Haas L W 1977 The effect of the spring-neap tidal cycle on the vertical salinity structure of the James, York and Rappahannock rivers, Virginia, USA; Estuarine Coast. Shelf Sci. 5 485–496.

  • Huang W 2007 Hydrodynamic modeling of flushing time in a small estuary of North Bay, Florida, USA; Estuarine Coast. Shelf Sci. 74 722–731.

  • Jay D A and Smith J D 1990 Residual circulation in shallow estuaries 1. Highly stratified, Narrow estuaries; J. Geophys. Res. 95 711–731.

  • Jyothi D, Ramana Murty T V, Sarma V V and Rao D P 2000 Computation of diffusion coefficients for waters of Gauthami–Godavari estuary using one-dimensional advection-diffusion model; Indian J. Mar. Sci. 29 185–187.

  • Luketina D 1998 Simple tidal prism models revisited; Estuarine Coast. Shelf Sci. 46 77–84.

  • Monsen N E, Cloren J E, Lucas L V and Monismith S G 2002 A comment on the use of flushing time, residence time and age as transport time scales; Limnol. Oceanogr. 47 1545–1553.

  • Narasimha Rao T V 2001 Time-dependent stratification in the Gouthami–Godavari estuary; Estuaries 24 18–29.

  • Preethi B, Revadekar J V and Kripalani R H 2011 Anomalous behavior of the Indian summer monsoon 2009; J. Earth Syst. Sci. 120 783–794.

  • Pritchard D W 1952 Estuarine hydrography; In: Advances in Geophysics, Indian Acad. Press, New York, pp. 243–280.

  • Ralston A and Wilf H S 1966 Spline functions, interpolation and numerical quadrature in mathematical methods for digital computers (ed.) Greville T N E (New York: John Wiley), pp. 156–293.

  • Ranga Rao V, Ramana Y V and Reddy B S R 1988 Salinity & current distribution in the Godavari Estuary, east coast of India; Indian J. Mar. Sci. 17 14–18.

  • Ranga Rao V 1991 Some studies on the dynamics and physical features of the Godavari estuary, east coast of India; Ph.D thesis, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam.

  • Rao K L 1975 India’s water wealth, its assessment, uses and projections; Orient Longman, New Delhi, 225p.

  • Reddy B S R and Ranga Rao V 1993 Flushing and dispersion characteristics of Godavari estuary under different river discharge conditions; Indian J. Mar. Sci. 2 111–114.

  • Sarma V V S S, Gupta S N M, Babu P V R, Acharya T, Harikrishnachari N, Vishnuvardhan K, Rao N S, Reddy N P C, Sarma V V, Sadhuram Y, Murty T V R and Kumar M D 2009 Influence of river discharge on plankton metabolic rates in the tropical monsoon driven Godavari estuary, India; Estuarine Coast. Shelf Sci. 85 515–524.

  • Sheldon J E and Alber M. 2006 The calculation of estuarine turnover times using freshwater fraction and tidal prism models: A critical evaluation; Estuar. Coasts 29 133–146.

  • Shetye S R, Michael G S and Chavan P V C 2007 Mixing and intrusion of salt; In: The Mandovi and Zuari Estuaries (eds) Shetye S R, Dileepkumar M and Shankar D (National Institute of Oceanography, India), pp. 49–58.

  • Sridevi B 2013 A comprehensive study on physical processes and their impact on biogeochemistry of Godavari estuary, India; PhD Thesis, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam.

  • Vijith V, Sundar D and Shetye S R 2009 Time-dependence of salinity in monsoonal estuaries; Estuarine Coast. Shelf Sci. 85 601–608.

Download references

Acknowledgements

Authors thank the Director, CSIR–NIO, Goa and Dr V S N Murty, the Scientist-in-Charge, CSIR–NIO Regional Centre, Visakhapatnam for encouragement and support. They thank the team that collected the datasets during 2008–2009 and appreciate the help of boat personnel during sampling. This work is a part of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) supported Supra Institutional Project (SIP-1308). Thanks to the reviewers for their valuable suggestions/comments which helped to improve the original version of the manuscript. This is NIO contribution number 5735.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CSIR – National Institute of Oceanography, Regional Centre, Visakhapatnam, 530 017, India.

    B SRIDEVI, V V S S SARMA, T V R MURTY, Y SADHURAM, N P C REDDY, N S N RAJU, CH JAWAHAR KUMAR & Y S N RAJU

  2. CSIR – National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa, 403 004, India.

    K VIJAYAKUMAR, R LUIS & M D KUMAR

  3. Department of Meteorology and Oceanography, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, 530 003, India.

    K V S R PRASAD

Authors
  1. B SRIDEVI
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. V V S S SARMA
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. T V R MURTY
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Y SADHURAM
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. N P C REDDY
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. K VIJAYAKUMAR
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. N S N RAJU
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. CH JAWAHAR KUMAR
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Y S N RAJU
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. R LUIS
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. M D KUMAR
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. K V S R PRASAD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to T V R MURTY.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

SRIDEVI, B., S S SARMA, V.V., MURTY, T.V.R. et al. Variability in stratification and flushing times of the Gautami–Godavari estuary, India. J Earth Syst Sci 124, 993–1003 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-015-0594-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-015-0594-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation