Physico-chemical assessment of sediments of Tamarindo estuary and its tributaries, Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Authors

  • Francela María Bravo Chaves Ecoway Servicios Ambientales, Costa Rica
  • Gilberto Piedra Marín Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica
  • Lilliana Piedra Castro Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica

Keywords:

Tamarindo estuary, sediments, pollution, coastal zone and marine ecosystems, quality assessment

Abstract

Sediments of Tamarindo estuary and its tributaries were evaluated in order to determine the effect of anthropogenic activities of the surrounding communities. The evaluation relied on texture, total phosphorus, organic matter, and heavy metal (Pb, Cu, Ni and Cr) analyses. The study spanned four sampling campaigns between October 2007 and April 2008, including four climatic seasons: rainy season, rainy-dry transition, dry season and dryrainy transition. Five sampling points were selected at Tamarindo estuary and three additional sites were set at Matapalo, Lomas and Lajas rivers. Ontario Ministry of the Environment regulation was used to evaluate sediment quality. It was determined that theanthropogenic activities of the surrounding communities exert a negative impact over the sediment quality; the pollution effect caused by such activities was rated as lower effect.

Downloads

Published

2012-01-01

Issue

Vol. 26 No. 1-2 (2012)

Section

Original scientific papers (evaluated by academic peers)

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

1. Authors guarantee the journal the right to be the first publication of the work as licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

2. Authors can set separate additional agreements for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in the journal (eg, place it in an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.

3. The authors have declared to hold all permissions to use the resources they provided in the paper (images, tables, among others) and assume full responsibility for damages to third parties.

4. The opinions expressed in the paper are the exclusive responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the editors or the Universidad Nacional.


Uniciencia Journal and all its productions are under  Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 4.0 Unported.

There is neither fee for access nor Article Processing Charge (APC)

Comentarios (ver términos de uso)

Most read articles by the same author(s)