Water and sediment monitoring in a coal mining area of the Palmeiras River, Tubarão Watershed (SC), Brazil

ABSTRACT

The mining of coal in the Santa Catarina Carboniferous Basin cause pollution of water resources. The objective of this study was to characterize the water and sediment of the Palmeiras River, located in the Tubarão Watershed, through quantification of metals in the water in inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and sediment in high resolution continuum source atomic absorption spectrometry (HR-CS AAS), and other variables related to coal mining. The water had an increase in Ca, Mg, Fe, Al, Mn, Zn, and Pb concentrations, and the sediment had a reduction in Al, Mn, Zn, Cu and Pb concentrations because the coal mining, through solubilization due to the low pH of the water. Correlations between concentrations of metals in the water and between concentrations of metals in the sediment were found, as well as cross correlations between metal levels in the water and sediment.

Keywords: metals; carboniferous basin; Santa Catarina