Monsoon effects on the distribution of total nitrogen in sediment at Setiu lagoon, Terengganu, South China sea

Abstract

This project was canied out to study the effects monsoon towards the distribution of nitrogen in sediment around the Setiu Lagoon. This study was also conducted to determine the concentration of total nitrogen content in the sediment. In this study, the kjedahl method was used to obtain the total nitrogen content in the sediment. There were 14 sampling stations and three sampling trips was conducted which were during the premonsoon (September), inter-monsoon (October) and monsoon (December) season. The second sampling (inter-monsoon) showed the highest of total nitrogen contents with 2.696 ± 0.046 mg/kg, compared to the first sampling (pre-monsoon) of 1.748 ± 0.043 mg/kg and the third sampling (monsoon) of 1. 738 ± 0.023 mg/kg. A statistical analysis using a Two Ways ANOVA has been applied and found that there is a significant different (P<0.05) among the stations and the sampling periods. From this study, it was found that the total nitrogen contents in the sediment at Setiu Lagoon area were still in a low level.