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High Variability in Sediment Characteristics of a Neotropical Stream Impacted by Surface Mining and Gully Erosion

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Abstract

This study examined patterns of stream sediment granulometry, organic matter (OM) and metal concentration, and surface water characteristics in a catchment in the Brazilian Iron Quadrangle that is highly impacted by surface iron mining and gully erosion. Sediment granulometry indicated fine sediment deposition at impacted stream sites, i.e., tendencies towards bimodal particle size distributions with an additional peak in the sand fraction at impacted stream sites that did not occur at pristine reference sites, as well as towards smaller mean sediment particle sizes at impacted sites than at reference sites. Impacted sites also had significantly lower sediment OM contents than reference sites. Sediment heavy metal and arsenic concentrations did not differ between impacted and reference sites and were generally below published target or threshold effect concentrations. Impacts on surface water characteristics occurred only locally at a site that received tailings pond effluent from an iron mine and had very low pH and conductivity values. Sediment characteristics exhibited substantial spatial variability in the studied tropical catchment, showing that land use impacts can hardly be detected in routine monitoring and impact assessment studies that adopt a before–after control-impact approach and do not consider pristine reference streams. These results underline the importance of high-resolution and long-term sediment monitoring as well as integrated basin-scale sediment management programs.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Iara F. Lopes, Alexandre T. B. Santos, Anna C. Aguiar, and Rodrigo S. Rosa for their assistance in the field, Gustavo Brunetto for helpful discussions and the supply of equipment, and Mario Brauns and an anonymous reviewer for helpful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biosystems Engineering, Federal University of São João del-Rei, Campus Tancredo Neves, Av. Visconde do Rio Preto, 36301-160, São João del-Rei, MG, Brazil

    Francisco L. Nascimento, Iola G. Boëchat, Alexandre O. Teixeira & Björn Gücker

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  1. Francisco L. Nascimento
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  2. Iola G. Boëchat
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  3. Alexandre O. Teixeira
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  4. Björn Gücker
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Correspondence to Björn Gücker.

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Nascimento, F.L., Boëchat, I.G., Teixeira, A.O. et al. High Variability in Sediment Characteristics of a Neotropical Stream Impacted by Surface Mining and Gully Erosion. Water Air Soil Pollut 223, 389–398 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-011-0866-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-011-0866-x

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