Artigo

Mineralogia e química dos sedimentos de fundo do médio e baixo Madeira e de seus principais tributários: Amazonas - Brasil

This study reports the granulometric, mineralogic and chemical analyses, including Pb isotope, carried out on the bottom sediments of the Madeira River, whose headwaters are in the Andes Mountain, and its tributaries that come from the cratonic region, in order to investigate the compositional varia...

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Autor principal: QUEIROZ, Maria Mireide Andrade
Outros Autores: HORBE, Adriana Maria Coimbra, MOURA, Candido Augusto Veloso
Grau: Artigo
Idioma: por
Publicado em: Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia 2011
Assuntos:
Acesso em linha: http://www.repositorio.ufpa.br:8080/jspui/handle/2011/2385
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0044-59672011000400003
Resumo:
This study reports the granulometric, mineralogic and chemical analyses, including Pb isotope, carried out on the bottom sediments of the Madeira River, whose headwaters are in the Andes Mountain, and its tributaries that come from the cratonic region, in order to investigate the compositional variation of the sediments transported by the major rivers of the Amazon. The analytical data show that the bottom sediments of the Madeira River have higher amounts of sand and quartz, and lower contents of Al2O3, Fe2O3, K2O, MgO, Na2O, PF, TiO2O, P2O5, MnO and trace elements, and the maturity increases toward downstream. Among the tributaries, the bottom sediments from Machado and, secondarily, Marmelos rivers are those that more closely match the composition of the sediments of Madeira River. The sediments of Jamari River, with higher proportion of Ti2O, Zr, Y, Nb, Ga, Hf, U, Ta and REE, are quite distinct. In spite of the intense weathering and erosion, in humid tropical conditions, that the rocks drained by the Madeira river basin have been submitted, the Th/Co, Th/Pb, Th/Yb, Al/Pb, Zr/Co ratios and Pb isotope data indicate that different sources contributed to the bottom sediments. It is suggested that mafic rocks are the main source of the sediments of the Madeira River, while felsic rocks are the source of the tributaries.