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Impact of physical processes on oxygen loss and production of hydrogen sulphide and methane in a tropical freshwater reservoir

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Abstract

Carbon neutrality of tropical reservoirs is a big concern in recent years as some estimates project high methane emission from these reservoirs. While there are studies available on the impact of physical processes (stratification and mixing) on the biogeochemistry of tropical reservoirs, not much information is available on the inter-annual variability in the low-oxygen conditions and production/accumulation of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and methane (CH4) during summer. This paper presents time series data based on monthly in situ observations from a tropical reservoir (Tillari, Maharashtra) situated in the Western Ghats in India. Sampling was carried out for temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO), H2S, and CH4 at a fixed location from March 2010 until June 2014. The reservoir experiences stable stratification during summer (March to June) with complete loss of oxygen and production of H2S (max. ~ 9 μM) and CH4 (max. ~ 185 μM) in the profundal zone. During the summer stratification, the hypolimnion acted as a pool of CH4 with integrated values ranging between 3502 and 41,632 mg m−2. However, the intensity and duration of anoxia varied during different years, influencing H2S and CH4 production. Mixing in the reservoir was observed between July and September in association with the monsoonal runoff, which increased the DO concentrations in the sub-surface layers. Besides, complete mixing was observed between December and February due to winter convection. This, however, was found to play an important role, as weaker mixing in the preceding year was associated with severe oxygen loss in the profundal zone during the following summer with a production of H2S and CH4. In contrast, more robust mixing during winter led to moderate low-oxygen conditions with less production of these gases in the subsequent summer. Based on our observations and considering a large number of reservoirs in the tropics, we hypothesise that with the present trends of global warming and less cold winters, low-oxygen conditions in the profundal zone may become more severe in the future with positive feedback on H2S and CH4 production during summer.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the Director, CSIR-NIO, and management of the Tillari Reservoir for permitting us to carry out the observations. The authors thank their colleagues A. K. Pratihary, Anand Methar, Hanamant Dalvi, Babasaheb Thorat, and late Srinivas Bandodkar for their assistance during sampling. The authors wish to thank Supriya Karapurkar and Pratirupa Bardhan for the POC data, Yasar N.K. for his help in CH4 analysis and Amit Sarkar for H2S analysis. Air temperature data were provided by the Indian Meteorological Department. Figures 3, 4, and 6 were drawn using ODV software, Schlitzer, R., Ocean Data View, http://odv.awi.de.

Funding

Financial support for this work was provided by the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) under the INDIAS_IDEA project (PSC0108). This is NIO’s contribution number 6702.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemical Oceanography Division, CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa, 403004, India

    Damodar M. Shenoy, Siby Kurian, Gayatri Shirodkar, Hema Uskaikar & Mangesh Gauns

  2. Council of Scientific & Industrial Research, 2, Rafi Marg, New Delhi, 110001, India

    Syed Wajih Ahmed Naqvi

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  1. Damodar M. Shenoy
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Contributions

DMS, SK, HU, MU, and SWAN designed the study. DMS conceptualised and wrote the manuscript, compiled most of the data, and drew all graphs. SK and GS helped in writing the manuscript. GS generated part of the CH4 data and prepared Table 1. HN helped in data compilation. All authors have approved the article.

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Correspondence to Damodar M. Shenoy.

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Shenoy, D.M., Kurian, S., Shirodkar, G. et al. Impact of physical processes on oxygen loss and production of hydrogen sulphide and methane in a tropical freshwater reservoir. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 39655–39667 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13472-x

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