Journal of Environmental Biology
pISSN: 0254-8704 ; eISSN: 2394-0379 ; CODEN: JEBIDP
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Abstract - Issue May 2012, 33 (3) Back
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Chemical
characterization of rain water in a seasonally dry tropical region (Varanasi), India Author Details |
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Jitendra Pandey (Corresponding author) |
Environmental
Science Division, Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University,? Varanasi
- 221 005, India e-mail: jiten_pandey@rediffmail.com |
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Ashima Singh |
Environmental
Science Division, Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University,? Varanasi - 221 005, India???? |
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Publication Data Paper received: 13
December 2010 Revised
received: 18
April 2011 Accepted: 23 April 2011 |
Abstract Rain water samples, covering 44 rain events of 2008 and
52 rain events of 2009, were collected at urban and suburban locations of
Varanasi and analyzed for pH, conductivity and for metal and nutrient ions.
The pH of rainwater varied between 6.3 and 7.9, with over 70% of samples
having alkaline range. Volume weighed mean concentration of ions indicated Ca2+
(11.62 - 41.60 ?eq l-1) to be the most
dominant species followed by SO42-?(4.7 - 25.2 ?eq l-1), Na+ (1.60 ? 10.25 ?eq l-1), Mg2+ (0.22 ? 7.21 ?eq l-1), (NO3- (0.73 ?
4.02 ?eq l-1), K+ (0.50 ?
3.70 ?eq l-1) and PO43-
(0.02 ? 0.97 ?eq l-1) respectively.
Among the heavy metals, Cr (12.60 to 44.60 ?g l-1), Zn (4.25 to
34.55 ?g l-1) and Mn (10.62 to 28.40 ?g
l-1) were found to be the dominant component of rain water. The varimax rotation of PCA results extracted four major
factors namely urban-industrial emission, crustal
aerosols, wind transport and biomass burning accounting for 80% of the total
variance. The study has relevance in establishing cause-effect relationships
for terrestrial as well as for aquatic ecosystems. ????????? Key words Rain
water, Heavy metal, Nutrient ions, Crustal
aerosols, Atmospheric deposition ?? |
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