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Assessment of Gualaxo do Norte River water quality (Minas Gerais, Brazil) affected by the dam breach of Fundão utilizing exploratory multivariate techniques

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Abstract

At the end of 2015, the Fundão dam belonging to the Samarco S.A. mining company was ruptured, releasing a flood of mud into the Gualaxo do Norte River, which advanced into the Doce River. The aim of the present study was to apply exploratory multivariate approaches to water quality data obtained during sampling campaigns at the Gualaxo do Norte River during the dry and rainy seasons, between July 2016 and June 2017. A total of 27 locations along the river were sampled, covering unaffected areas and regions influenced by the tailings waste from the dam. Determinations of chemical, physical, and microbiological water quality parameters were performed. Application of principal component analysis (PCA) resulted in the first two components together explaining 39.49% and 37.91% of the total variance for the dry and rainy season data, respectively. In both cases, the PCA groups were related to variables such as turbidity and total solids, which both presented higher values in regions affected by the mud flow. These results are in agreement with those obtained by the Kohonen neural network method, where two-dimensional maps confirmed the samples according to the affected and unaffected area by the disaster.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—CAPES, Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais—FAPEMIG, and Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto—UFOP, Brazil.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, 35400-000, Brazil

    Grazielle Santos, Deyse Reis & Paulo Castro

  2. Department of Pharmacy, Federal University of Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, 35400-000, Brazil

    Ingrid Santos & Camila Rocha

  3. Department of Civil Engineering, Federal University of Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, 35400-000, Brazil

    Aníbal Santiago

  4. Department of Chemistry, Federal University of Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, 35400-000, Brazil

    Leandro Lima & Fabiana Lobo

  5. Department of Chemistry, Federal University of Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, 36570-900, Brazil

    Gilmare da Silva

Authors
  1. Grazielle Santos
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  2. Deyse Reis
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  3. Ingrid Santos
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  9. Gilmare da Silva
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Grazielle Rocha dos Santos and Deyse Almeida dos Reis performed the fieldwork. Grazielle Rocha dos Santos, Deyse Almeida dos Reis, Ingrid Couto Santos, Camila Soares Rocha, and Leandro Rodrigues Lima performed material preparation and the experimental. Paulo Bernardo Neves Castro and Anibal da Fonseca Santiago helped write the manuscript and design the figures. Grazielle Rocha dos Santos and Gilmare Antônia da Silva performed data treatment. Gilmare Antônia da Silva, Anibal da Fonseca Santiago, and Fabiana Aparecida Lobo were involved in planning and executing the work. Fabiana Aparecida Lobo provided the language revision. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Grazielle Santos.

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Santos, G., Reis, D., Santos, I. et al. Assessment of Gualaxo do Norte River water quality (Minas Gerais, Brazil) affected by the dam breach of Fundão utilizing exploratory multivariate techniques. Environ Monit Assess 195, 337 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-022-10907-x

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