Malaysian Journal of Analytical
Sciences Vol 22 No 3 (2018): 416 - 428
DOI:
10.17576/mjas-2018-2203-06
QUANTIFICATION
OF GROUNDWATER-DERIVED NUTRIENTS INTO BEACH RIDGE DRAINAGE USING RADON MASS
BALANCE MODEL
(Kuantifikasi Nutrien Air Bawah Tanah ke Saluran Pematang
Pasir dengan Model Keseimbangan Jisim Radon)
Nicholas Chia
Wei Ng and Seng-Chee Poh*
School
of Marine and Environmental Sciences,
Universiti
Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
*Corresponding
author: poh@umt.edu.my
Received: 10
November 2017; Accepted: 22 May 2018
Abstract
Groundwater discharge can be a
significant pathway for dissolved nutrients to surface water and thus can bring
forth important implications to the coastal biogeochemical cycles. Discrete
sampling of radon concentrations at several locations along an inter-ridge
drainage off Setiu Wetlands were carried out to estimate the fluxes of
groundwater discharge. The 222Rn mass balance results show that
groundwater discharge in the drainage is
estimated to be 6649 m3day-1, made up of ~33% of total water
discharge and has contributed 2.88×102 molday-1, 1.23×102
molday-1 and 0.75molday-1 of ammonium-nitrogen,
nitrate-nitrogen and nitrite-nitrogen, respectively into the surface water
drainage. Strong correlation between radon and ammonium suggested that the
source of nutrient in drainage is groundwater-based, derived probably from the
nearby damaged or leaking residential septic tanks and from agricultural
practices of oil palm plantation.
Keywords: groundwater-surface water interaction, water
quality, beach ridge drainage, Setiu, Malaysia
Abstrak
Pelepasan
air bawah tanah merupakan satu laluan penting untuk nutrien ke air permukaan.
Proses ini mampu membawa implikasi yang
penting terhadap kitaran biogeokimia di pesisiran pantai. Pensampelan radon di
sepanjang saluran pematang pasir telah dijalankan untuk menentukan kadar
pelepasan air bawah tanah. Hasil model keseimbangan jisim 222Rn telah
menunjukkan kadar pelepasan air bawah tanah di saluran adalah sebanyak 6649 m3hari-1
dan nilai ini merangkumi ~33% daripada jumlah pelepasan air. Pelepasan air
bawah tanah juga menyumbang sebanyak 2.88×102 mol hari-1 amonium-nitrogen,
1.23×102 mol hari-1 nitrit-nitrogen dan 0.75 mol hari-1
dan nitrit-nitrogen ke air permukaan saluran. Kolerasi antara kepekatan radon
dan ammonium di saluran juga mencadangkan sumber nutrien berasal dari air bawah
tanah yang kemungkinan tercemar oleh sisa pembuangan kumbahan dari kawasan
kediaman berdekatan dan rembesan pertanian dari ladang kelapa sawit di
sekitarnya.
Kata kunci: interaksi
air bawah tanah-air permukaan, kualiti air, saluran pematang pasir, Setiu, Malaysia
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