Sediment characterization on pit–lake water body of Raniganj coal fields, West Bengal, India

Debnath Palit; Debalina Kar; Sharmila Roychoudhury; Aparajita Mukherjee

Volume : VII, Issue : X, October - 2017

Sediment characterization on pit–lake water body of Raniganj coal fields, West Bengal, India

Debnath Palit, Debalina Kar, Sharmila Roychoudhury, Aparajita Mukherjee

Abstract :

Ecological conditions of aquatic environment were very fragile in connection with severe deterioration due to anthropocentric causes. In the present study, open cast coal mining generated pit–lakes at different mining areas under Raniganj coalfields (RCF), West Bengal, India were investigated with special emphasis on the soil–sediment quality. Ten physic–chemical characteristics of soils were measured seasonally from the bottom sediment in lake littoral region during April, 2014 to March, 2015. Mildly acidic to alkaline nature of soil sediment characteristics were recorded where significant positive correlation was noted for organic carbon and bulk density (r = 0.9). Moreover, PCA analysis reveals three most important and key influential parameters as Organic Carbon, Bulk Density and Soil available nitrogen content of pitlake soil. Microbial examination of pit lake soil sediment was required to assess the complete nature of this aquatic environment.