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Geochemistry of water and ground water in the Nhecolândia, Pantanal of Mato Grosso, Brazil: variability and associated processes

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Abstract

A distinctive feature of the Nhecolândia, a sub-region of the Pantanal wetland in Brazil, is the presence of both saline and freshwater lakes. Saline lakes used to be attributed to a past arid phase during the Pleistocene. However, recent studies have shown that saline and fresh water lakes are linked by a continuous water table, indicating that saline water could come from a contemporary concentration process. This concentration process could also be responsible for the large chemical variability of the waters observed in the area. A regional water sampling has been conducted in surface and sub-surface water and the water table, and the results of the geochemical and statistical analysis are presented. Based on sodium contents, the concentration shows a 1: 4443 ratio. All the samples belong to the same chemical family and evolve in a sodic alkaline manner. Calcite or magnesian calcite precipitates very early in the process of concentration, probably followed by the precipitation of magnesian silicates. The most concentrated solutions remain under-saturated with respect to the sodium carbonate salt, even if this equilibrium is likely reached around the saline lakes. Apparently, significant amounts of sulfate and chloride are lost simultaneously from the solutions, and this cannot be explained solely by evaporative concentration. This could be attributed to the sorption on reduced minerals in a green sub-surface horizon in the “cordilhieria” areas. In the saline lakes, low potassium, phosphate, magnesium, and sulfate are attributed to algal blooms. Under the influence of evaporation, the concentration of solutions and associated chemical precipitations are identified as the main factors responsible for the geochemical variability in this environment (about 92% of the variance). Therefore, the saline lakes of Nhecolândia have to be managed as landscape units in equilibrium with the present water flows and not inherited from a past arid phase. In order to elaborate hydrochemical tracers for a quantitative estimation of water flows, three points have to be investigated more precisely: (1) the quantification of magnesium involved in the Mg-calcite precipitation; (2) the identification of the precise stoichiometry of the Mg-silicate; and (3) the verification of the loss of chloride and sulfate by sorption onto labile iron minerals.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Metallurgy, IRD-CEFORSE Indian Institute of Science, 560 012, Bangalore, India

    Laurent Barbiéro

  2. Departamento de Geografia, Universidade de São Paulo, C.P. 8105, Cep 05508-900, São Paulo, Brazil

    José P. de Queiroz Neto, Benjamin Capellari & Erminio Fernandes

  3. IRD Centre de Hann, B.P. 1386, Dakar, Senegal

    Gilles Ciornei

  4. UFMS—Campus de Trés Lagoas, Av. Ranulfo Marques Leal 3484, Cep 79600-000, Trés Lagoas-MS, Brazil

    Arnaldo Y. Sakamoto

  5. Laboratoire Chimie et Environnement, Case 29, Université de Provence (Aix-Marseille I), 3 Place Victor Hugo, 13331, Marseille Cedex 03, France

    Vincent Valles

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  1. Laurent Barbiéro
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  2. José P. de Queiroz Neto
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  3. Gilles Ciornei
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  4. Arnaldo Y. Sakamoto
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  7. Vincent Valles
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Correspondence to Laurent Barbiéro.

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Barbiéro, L., de Queiroz Neto, J.P., Ciornei, G. et al. Geochemistry of water and ground water in the Nhecolândia, Pantanal of Mato Grosso, Brazil: variability and associated processes. Wetlands 22, 528–540 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1672/0277-5212(2002)022[0528:GOWAGW]2.0.CO;2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1672/0277-5212(2002)022[0528:GOWAGW]2.0.CO;2

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