info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Assessment of seawater quality and bacteriological pollution of rocky shores in the central coast of San Jorge Gulf (Patagonia, Argentina)
Fecha
2020-01Registro en:
Verga, Romina Noelia; Tolosano, Javier Alejandro; Cazzaniga, Néstor Jorge; Gil, Damian Gaspar; Assessment of seawater quality and bacteriological pollution of rocky shores in the central coast of San Jorge Gulf (Patagonia, Argentina); Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd; Marine Pollution Bulletin; 150; 110749; 1-2020; 1-9
0025-326X
1879-3363
CONICET Digital
CONICET
Autor
Verga, Romina Noelia
Tolosano, Javier Alejandro
Cazzaniga, Néstor Jorge
Gil, Damian Gaspar
Resumen
We assessed seasonal and spatial variability of seawater quality and bacterial pollution in two sewage-impacted and two reference rocky shores in the area of Comodoro Rivadavia, the largest city in central Patagonia. Samples taken from winter 2015 to autumn 2017 at different intertidal levels showed that the impacted sites experienced a decrease of salinity—more pronounced towards the autumn—, a slightly higher turbidity, the lowest values of dissolved oxygen, and significantly higher concentrations of nitrates throughout the year. They also were up to ten times above the legal limit of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) for recreation and fishing areas. Enterococci increased particularly during winter. All bacteriological indicators decreased markedly during spring. Principal component analysis arranged the reference sites mostly by their higher salinity, and the impacted sites by concentration of FIB, nitrates and phosphates. Impacted and reference sites overlapped towards lower levels, where the explicative variables were more stable.