Artigo de Periódico
Sedimentary transport influences on diagenetic processes at the Amazon continental shelf, Brazil
Registro en:
2454-7352
Autor
APRILE, Fabio Marques
SIQUEIRA, Gilmar Wanzeller
DARWICH, Assad José
IRION, Georg Friedrich
Institución
Resumen
This research aimed to correlate the sedimentary transport with the diagenetic processes in the
coastal zone and Amazon Continental Shelf (ACS). Physical and physical-chemical parameters,
trace element contents (Cr, Pb, Ni, Zn and Hg), and O2, CO2 and iron flux were determined in
sediment and pore water. Sedimentary incubation (96 hours) and algorithms were applied to
determine the variation of the activity coefficient (ΔI) and ionic strength (Fi) of the predominant
chemical species, and to estimate the net production and mineralization of the organic matter
(ΔCO2T) in the system. There are not many studies applying incubation tests to identify the
diagenetic processes, especially in fluvial-marines sediments. The results showed a strong
zonation associated to the transport and deposition processes, influenced mainly by the grain-size
and texture of sediment and fluvial streams. The distribution of trace elements followed the trend of
the sedimentary pattern, with higher levels of metals in the deposits of clay minerals and organic
matter. A factor of weight (Fw), calculated to establish the degree of importance of each parameter
under the distribution and mobility of trace elements, suggests that the mobility of Cr, Ni and Zn is
controlled by depth, clay and organic compounds contents, and concentration of dissolved oxygen.The vertical flow of O2 and CO2 and the Fe2+/Fe3+ ratio in the pore water suggest a predominance
of organic matter oxidation in the sedimentary layer between 0.0 and 0.2 m, with partially anaerobic
mineralization of the sediments below 0.4 m. Increases in trace element concentrations were
observed in iron reduction zones, indicating processes of desorption of oxides and hydroxides of Fe
and mineralization of organic matter. The extrapolation of the results of the incubation test to the
studied system allowed to establish three hypotheses related to the diagenetic processes: 1) the
flow of marine currents may be allowing the aerobic oxidation in the sandy sediments, with the
nitrification route more accentuated than the ammonification route; 2) in the region of the coastal
zone and inner continental shelf the routes of oxidation and reduction may be alternating according
to the physical-chemical factors and seasonality; 3) in the coastal zone and inner shelf the net
mineralization rate exceeded the net production rate of the organic matter (ΔCO2T >0). CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior SIQUEIRA, G. W. Universidade Federal do Pará