Geo-Marine Letters

, Volume 16, Issue 1, pp 24–26 | Cite as

Phosphorus fractionation in surface sediments of the Amazon continental shelf

  • I. M. O. Silveira
  • S. R. Patchineelam
Article
Revised:

Abstract

The aim of this study is to separate various fractions of phosphorus in surface sediments of the Amazon continental shelf and compare them with other areas of the Brazilian shelf. Surface sediments were collected from the river-mouth transect (RMT) and open-self transect (OST). The extraction techniques available in the literature have been used to separate the following forms: Fe-PO4, Al-PO4, Ca-PO4, and associated organic matter. The results indicate that the concentrations of phosphorus are uniform in the study area and may be compared with many other nonpolluted environments. Among the inorganic forms, Ca-PO4 is dominant in all the samples, and Fe-PO4 is present in lower concentrations. Al-PO4 is more significant on the Amazon continental shelf than other parts of the Brazilian coast and other coastal environments of the world.

Keywords

Organic Matter Phosphorus Fractionation Surface Sediment Continental Shelf 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag 1996

Authors and Affiliations

  • I. M. O. Silveira
    • 1
  • S. R. Patchineelam
    • 1
  1. 1.Programa de Geoquimica AmbientalUniversidade Federal FluminenseNiteróiBrazil

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