Abstract
In 2015, 60 million tons of ore tailings from the Fundão dam failure entered the Doce River basin, Brazil, and reached surrounding sandy beaches. This study evaluated the influence of sedimentology and morphology of beaches that received mining tailings on chemical element concentrations and consequent benthic community responses. We collected sediments for physical (granulometry, heavy mineral, and calcium carbonate content) and geochemical (chemical elements) analyses and biological diversity parameters (benthic macro- and meiofauna density, richness, and composition) on 8 beaches with different morphodynamic types. Beaches with more dissipative characteristics retained the highest contents of mud, As, Fe, Mn, V, and heavy minerals, present in the tailings. We also recorded the lowest density and richness of macrofauna on these beaches, compared to more reflective beaches. These results contradict the global trend, suggesting that anthropic disturbances outweigh the effects of morphodynamics in structuring the benthic fauna community, mainly in dissipative sandy beaches.
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