Particulate metal in the Ulla River estuary: State and sources of contamination (Arosa Ria, NW Iberian Peninsula)
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
The metal content measured in surface sediment and suspended particulate matter (SPM) samples collected from the Ulla River estuary (NW Spain) showed evidence of contamination by Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, and Zn, but not by Cd, Fe, and Pb. The metals are trapped mainly in the sediment of two estuary zones, just before they reach the Arosa Ria. The first zone is located at the estuary head, where estuarine mixing occurs and the SPM from the Ulla River contributes Cu, Mn, Ni, and Zn, while the Sar River discharges urban waste and Cr. The second zone is located at the estuary mouth (ria head), where a weak sediment dynamics and the presence of mussel rafts results in contamination by Cu and Cr, metals that are abundant in the SPM that manages to traverse a shallow sand bar found before the estuary mouth.
Downloads
Article Details
This is an open access article distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, which allows you to share and adapt the work, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. Figures, tables and other elements in the article are included in the article’s CC BY 4.0 license, unless otherwise indicated. The journal title is protected by copyrights and not subject to this license. Full license deed can be viewed here.