Comportamiento de los metales en un estuario afectado por drenaje ácido de mina durante un ciclo mareal (estuario del Río Tinto, SO España)
- Laura Sánchez López 1
- Jonatan Romero-Matos 1
- Rafael Pérez-López 1
- Carlos Ruiz Cánovas 1
- María Dolores Basallote 2
- Maira Castellanos Vásquez 1
- Gerardo Amaya Yaeggy 1
- 1 Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra y Centro de Investigación en Recursos Naturales Salud y Medioambiente (RENSMA), Universidad de Huelva, Campus “El Carmen”, Huelva
- 2 Departamento de Ecología y Gestión Costera, Instituto de Ciencias Marinas de Andalucía (ICMAN), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Puerto Real, Cádiz
ISSN: 0213-683X
Year of publication: 2024
Issue: 75
Pages: 87-90
Type: Article
More publications in: Geogaceta
Abstract
The Tinto River estuary is severely affected by acid mine drainage. In this work, the behaviour of metals in the particulate and dissolved phases during the mixing of acid fluvial water and alkaline sea water throughout a tidal cycle is studied. The pH values ranged from 4.0 at ebb tide to 6.3 at high tide. During the rise of the tides there is an intense precipitation of mineral phases of Fe and Al that may remove As from solution and to a lesser extent Cu, Y and REE respectively. The previously retained As increases its proportion in the dissolved phase above pH ~ 5.4 probably due to desorption processes. Other elements such as Co, Cd, Ni, and Zn are found mainly in the dissolved phase, which shows quasi-conservative behaviour. During low tide the concentrations in solution of all elements analysed increase due to the greater fluvial influence; however, As concentrations also increase during high tide, evidencing desorption processes at pH values close to neutrality. Understanding the sorption/desorption processes in estuaries is essential to predict the behaviour of metals in these environments.