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Physico-chemical parameters such as salinity, pH, DO, BOD, chlorophyll-a, nutrients (NO2-N, NO3-N, NH4-N, PO4-P, total phosphorus) and major ions (Ca2+, Mg2+, F-) were studied during February-March, 1994 in the coastal waters off Orissa. Data comprising 13 variables obtained from 38 water samples have been subjected to R-mode factor analysis so as to understand the sources, the processes occurring and the influence of various physico-chemical parameters on coastal water quality. About 67.8% of variance has accounted for three factors such as (i) river run-off or terrestrial input; high positive loading on nutrients with high negative loading on salinity implying that the nutrient economy in the coastal waters off Orissa is primarily dependent on the magnitude of river run-off; (ii) estuarine discharges which include remineralisation of organically bound materials into its dissolved inorganic form or oxidation …