Estudio geoquímico de los sedimentos superficiales del litoral nororiental del Golfo de Cariaco, Estado Sucre, Venezuela

Abstract

, mostrandose contaminacion, especialmente por cadmio. La no linealidad presentada por algunos metales como plomo, cobre, niquel y manganeso con el hierro, sugiere la existencia de entradas de tipo no natural, causadas por fuentes de origen antropogenico. Esta fuente probablemente esta influenciada por descargas fluviales, industriales y por el aporte exogeno unidireccional desde la costa sur. Palabras claves. Golfo de Cariaco, estudio geoquimico, sedimentos. Abstract: This research presents some geochemical aspects of the marine surface sediments of the north coast of the Gulf of Cariaco, in the state of Sucre, Venezuela. The gulf has a tectonic structure and a fault system mainly featuring sandy sediments, most of which are quite permeable and have an average hydric content of 22.44%. The content of organic matter detected was low, averaging 7.63%, organic carbon and calcium carbonate commanding 0.97% and 21.97%, respectively. Contrarily, phosphorus and total nitrogen were high, 360.03 mg.g -1 for the former and 396.29 mg.g -1 for the latter, the total nitrogen to phosphorus ratio being 1.09, which indicates a certain degree of organic fertility. The metal concentrations presented different distributions, averaging 3548.58, 14.63, 13.68, 11.59, 10.23, 2.29, 1.04, and 0.57 mg.g-1 for iron, manganese, nickel, zinc, chromium, copper, cadmium, and lead, respectively, indicative of contamination, especially by cadmium. The nonlinearity with the iron presented by some metals such as copper, nickel, and manganese suggests the existence of anthropogenic influxes, probably swayed by river-borne industrial contributions, including the exogenous discharges running seawards from the south coast.