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Magnetic studies and elemental analysis of river sediments: a case study from the Ponnaiyar River (Southeastern India)

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Abstract

The Ponnaiyar River is one of the largest rivers of the Tamil Nadu state (India), flowing a distance of 430 km from its point of origin to the sea. This work contributes with new data of magnetic and elemental composition of river sediments, and improves the knowledge obtained by preliminary and previous studies of rivers from Southeastern India. Magnetic susceptibility, anhysteretic and isothermal remanent magnetization and chemical determinations (major and trace metals) were measured. Magnetic results reveal the predominance of magnetite-like mineral with magnetic grain size variations along the river and in depth. Most of the uppermost samples have the major presence of trace metals and higher values of magnetic concentration. Magnetic and chemical variables were also analysed as potential pollution indicators using multivariate statistical techniques: canonical correlation and fuzzy c-means clustering analyses, which confirmed the existence of relationships, but not in a simple way, between magnetic and chemical variables. Furthermore, fuzzy analysis allows classifying the data in different well-differentiated groups regarding the trace metal load, concentration and feature-dependent parameters. The most polluted samples show high concentration of trace elements and magnetic carriers, softer and coarser magnetic minerals; on the contrary, the unpolluted samples (from the deepest sediments) have the opposite characteristics.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the Annamalai University, Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (UNCPBA), and National Council for Scientific and Technological Research (CONICET) for their financial support. The authors also thank the three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments that helped in improving the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Física Arroyo Seco (UNCPBA), CONICET, Pinto 399, B7000GHG, Tandil, Argentina

    Marcos A. E. Chaparro & Ana M. Sinito

  2. Department of Physics, Arulmigu Meenakshi Amman College of Engineering, Vadamavandal, 604 410, Tamilnadu, India

    G. Suresh

  3. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Ecosistemas y Desarrollo Sustentable (UNCPBA), CONICET, Pinto 399, B7000GHG, Tandil, Argentina

    Mauro A. E. Chaparro

  4. Department of Physics, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar, 608 002, Tamil Nadu, India

    V. Ramasamy

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  1. Marcos A. E. Chaparro
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  2. G. Suresh
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  3. Mauro A. E. Chaparro
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  4. V. Ramasamy
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  5. Ana M. Sinito
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Correspondence to Marcos A. E. Chaparro.

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Chaparro, M.A.E., Suresh, G., Chaparro, M.A.E. et al. Magnetic studies and elemental analysis of river sediments: a case study from the Ponnaiyar River (Southeastern India). Environ Earth Sci 70, 201–213 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-012-2116-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-012-2116-y

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