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Hydrochemical and isotopic characterization of the hydrological budget of a MAB Reserve: Mar Chiquita lagoon, province of Buenos Aires, Argentina

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Abstract

Mar Chiquita is a coastal lagoon located in the Argentine Buenos Aires province in South America. The aim of this study was to perform a hydrochemical and stable isotopes characterization in order to better the understanding of the hydrology of the Mar Chiquita lagoon’s catchment and its water budget. Groundwater samples were taken from 144 wells and 21 samples from main streams, and seven lagoon water samples were also collected. Chemical analyses were carried out using standard laboratory methods, and isotopic determinations were made through laser spectroscopy using a DLT-100 liquid–water isotope analyzer. Hydrochemical analysis permits a general classification of groundwater and streamwater as sodium bicarbonate waters, while the lagoon chemical composition shows an evolution toward seawater composition, from the north to its mouth, which is located southerly. Isotopic data show a source of aquifer recharge from rainfall and a groundwater domain into the streams’ flow. Three main components can be recognized as end members in a plot of electrical conductivity (EC) versus δ18O: seawater, streamwater and groundwater. Obtained EC values for groundwater in the discharge zone (EC average value = 3,516 μS/cm) allow minimizing its direct contribution and to take into consideration two dominating end members: streamwater and seawater. Mar Chiquita lagoon’s water falls close to the line between streamwater and seawater end members according to its EC and δ18O. The obtained seawater proportion for these samples ranges from 84 % in the lagoon’s mouth to around 0 % in the more distal area.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the financial support of CONICET (National Council of Scientific and Technical Research—Argentina) for the period 2009–2011, through PIP 112 200801 01318 KE1 “EVOLUCIÓN Y DINÁMICA DE LA PLANICIE COSTERA DE MAR CHIQUITA,” and to the ANPCyT that also contributes through the project PICT 2001 0768. We are also thankful to Tec. A. Ferrante, who collaborated in the sampling and Tec. G.V. Bernava, who performed the chemical analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Melisa Glok Galli, Daniel Emilio Martínez, Eduardo Emilio Kruse, Sebastián Iván Grondona & María Lourdes Lima

  2. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC), CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata (UNMDP), Funes 3350, 7600, Mar del Plata, Argentina

    Melisa Glok Galli, Daniel Emilio Martínez & Sebastián Iván Grondona

  3. Instituto de Geología de Costas y del Cuaternario (IGCyC), UNMDP, Casilla de Correo 722, 7600, Mar del Plata, Argentina

    Melisa Glok Galli, Daniel Emilio Martínez, Sebastián Iván Grondona & María Lourdes Lima

  4. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP), Calle 60 y 122, 1900, La Plata, Argentina

    Eduardo Emilio Kruse

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  1. Melisa Glok Galli
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  2. Daniel Emilio Martínez
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  3. Eduardo Emilio Kruse
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  4. Sebastián Iván Grondona
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  5. María Lourdes Lima
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Correspondence to Melisa Glok Galli.

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Glok Galli, M., Martínez, D.E., Kruse, E.E. et al. Hydrochemical and isotopic characterization of the hydrological budget of a MAB Reserve: Mar Chiquita lagoon, province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Environ Earth Sci 72, 2821–2835 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3187-8

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