Distribution of trace metals and Pb isotopes in bottom sediments of the Murucupi River, North Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: Oliveira, Diomar Cavalcante
• Data de Publicação: 2016
• Outros Autores: Lafon, Jean Michel, Lima, Marcelo de Oliveira
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Digital do Instituto Evandro Chagas (Patuá)
• Texto Completo: https://patua.iec.gov.br/handle/iec/2495
• topic: Poluição da Água; Sedimentos Geológicos; Metais Pesados; Bacias Hidrográficas; Ecossistema Amazônico; Rio Amazonas (PA); Rio Pará (PA); Rio Murucupi (PA); Barcarena (PA)

The Murucupi River belongs to the hydrographic network of the Pará River estuary, at the southern portion of the Amazon River mouth, which consists of a fluvial-marine transitional zone under strong impact of both tidal and fluvial currents. The geochemical results obtained for bottom sediments from the Murucupi River, the Arrozal Channel, and the Pará River indicate a natural variation of Pb, Cr, Cu, Zn, and Ni content among these water ways with no significant anthropogenic influence. According to the threshold effects level (TEL), the contents of trace metals do not offer risk to the local biota. By contrast, the differences in the Pb isotopic composition of sediments in the Murucupi River, the Arrozal Channel, and the Pará River are significant. These isotopic signatures indicate an anthropogenic contribution of Pb in the Murucupi River originating from the domestic effluents of urban centers; industrial waste represented by red mud is not included. These results demonstrate that the Pb isotopic signature is a prospective indicator for future contamination of bottom sediments by trace metals and is useful for identifying contaminants among the possible anthropogenic sources.