Estuary-ria exchange of cadmium, lead and zinc in the coastal system of the Ria of Vigo (NW Iberian Peninsula)

Little research has been done on the land-sea exchange of trace elements, which is particularly applicable to ria coasts. In particular, trace metal enrichment in the inner part of the Ria of Vigo (the San Simon Inlet) has been observed from sediment studies but there is no information about Cd, Pb and Zn fluxes through the Rande Strait, which is the natural boundary of the estuary-ria water exchange. In order to assess metal exchanges in a ria-type system, six sampling cruises on board the R/V Mytilus (IIM-CSIC) were carried out. Water column profiles of salinity, temperature and tidal currents were obtained every 30 min. The water column for dissolved and particulate metals was sampled every two hours over a complete tidal cycle. Dissolved metal concentrations were 0.01–0.18 nM for Cd, 0.5-1.9 nM for Pb and 4-44 nM for Zn. Compared with Zn (16±12%) and especially with Cd (5.4±5.0%), particulate metal represented a significant fraction of the total concentration for Pb (41±21%). Net fluxes of dissolved Cd and Zn are higher than in the particulate phase, whereas for Pb an inverse situation was observed. The net metal exchange in the Vigo estuary-ria environment was not seasonally controlled. Dissolved Cd and Pb were driven by tidal ranges and particulate Pb by the Oitaven River flow. On the other hand, Zn did not show a defined trend. The budgets obtained for the Ria of Vigo, with the exception of Pb, were one or two orders of magnitude lower than those measured in other large European estuaries.

[1]  R. Prego,et al.  Lead and Zinc contamination of surface sediments in the main harbours of the Galician Rias , 2008 .

[2]  A. V. Filgueiras,et al.  Temporal and spatial changes of total and labile metal concentration in the surface sediments of the Vigo Ria (NW Iberian Peninsula): influence of anthropogenic sources. , 2008, Marine pollution bulletin.

[3]  M. Wilson,et al.  Metal speciation in surface sediments of the Vigo Ria (NW Iberian Peninsula) , 2008 .

[4]  C. M. G. van den Berg,et al.  Copper speciation in continental inputs to the Vigo Ria: sewage discharges versus river fluxes. , 2008, Marine pollution bulletin.

[5]  R. Prego,et al.  Dissolved copper speciation behaviour during estuarine mixing in the San Simon Inlet (wet season, Galicia). Influence of particulate matter , 2008 .

[6]  B. Quintana,et al.  Sedimentation rates and trace metal input history in intertidal sediments from San Simón Bay (Ría de Vigo, NW Spain) derived from 210Pb and 137Cs chronology. , 2007, Journal of environmental radioactivity.

[7]  A. V. Filgueiras,et al.  Biogeochemical fluxes of iron from rainwater, rivers and sewage to a Galician Ria (NW Iberian Peninsula). Natural versus anthropogenic contributions , 2007 .

[8]  C. Vale,et al.  Exchange of Cu and Cd across the sediment-water interface in intertidal mud flats from Ria Formosa (Portugal) , 2007, Hydrobiologia.

[9]  M. Pérez-Arlucea,et al.  Reliability of subtidal sediments as geochemical recorders of pollution input : San Simón Bay (Ría de Vigo, NW Spain) , 2006 .

[10]  J. Martin,et al.  Trace metals in the water column of the Vigo Ria: Offshore exchange in mid-winter conditions , 2006 .

[11]  M. Decastro,et al.  Metal distributions and their fluxes at the coastal boundary of a semi-enclosed ria , 2005 .

[12]  R. Riso,et al.  Seasonal variations of cadmium speciation in the Penzé estuary, NW France , 2005 .

[13]  M. Gómez-Gesteira,et al.  Inter‐ and intra‐annual analysis of the salinity and temperature evolution in the Galician Rías Baixas–ocean boundary (northwest Spain) , 2005 .

[14]  R. Howarth,et al.  Sources and timing of anthropogenic pollution in the Ensenada de San Simon (inner Ria de Vigo), Galicia, NW Spain: an application of mixture-modelling and nonlinear optimization to recent sedimentation. , 2005, The Science of the total environment.

[15]  R. Prego,et al.  Influence of point sources on trace metal contamination and distribution in a semi-enclosed industrial embayment: the Ferrol Ria (NW Spain) , 2004 .

[16]  M. Anke,et al.  Elements and their compounds in the environment , 2004 .

[17]  K. Bruland,et al.  6.02 – Controls of Trace Metals in Seawater , 2003 .

[18]  F. Morel,et al.  Marine Bioinorganic Chemistry: The Role of Trace Metals in the Oceanic Cycles of Major Nutrients , 2003 .

[19]  R. Howarth,et al.  Metals in the sediments of Ensenada de San Simón (inner Ría de Vigo), Galicia, NW Spain , 2003 .

[20]  R. Prego,et al.  Rias, estuaries and incised valleys: is a ria an estuary? , 2003 .

[21]  F. Morel,et al.  The Biogeochemical Cycles of Trace Metals in the Oceans , 2003, Science.

[22]  F. Vilas,et al.  Pollution in intertidal sediments of San Simón Bay (Inner Ria de Vigo, NW of Spain): total heavy metal concentrations and speciation. , 2003, Marine pollution bulletin.

[23]  R. Prego,et al.  Twentieth century overview of heavy metals in the Galician Rias (NW Iberian Peninsula). , 2003, Environmental pollution.

[24]  K. Bruland,et al.  Tracing Ni, Cu, and Zn kinetics and equilibrium partitioning between dissolved and particulate phases in South San Francisco Bay, California, using stable isotopes and high-resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry , 2002 .

[25]  Jean-Marie Beckers,et al.  Metal biogeochemistry in the Tinto-Odiel rivers (Southern Spain) and in the Gulf of Cadiz: A synthesis of the results of TOROS project , 2001 .

[26]  P. Lazure,et al.  Influence of the Gironde estuary outputs on cadmium concentrations in the waters: consequences on the Marennes-Oléron bay (France) , 2000 .

[27]  F. Vilas,et al.  Geochemistry of Major and Trace Elements in Sediments of the Ria de Vigo (NW Spain): an Assessment of Metal Pollution ☆ , 2000 .

[28]  P. Michel,et al.  Net Fluxes of Dissolved Arsenic, Cadmium, Copper, Zinc, Nitrogen and Phosphorus from the Gironde Estuary (France): Seasonal Variations and Trends , 2000 .

[29]  J. M. Martín,et al.  Sources of Cd, Cu, Ni and Zn in Portuguese coastal waters , 2000 .

[30]  M. T. Cabrita,et al.  The effect of tidal range on the flushing of ammonium from intertidal sediments of the Tagus estuary , 1999 .

[31]  Paulo C. Leitão,et al.  A two-dimensional particle tracking model for pollution dispersion in A Coruna and Vigo Rias (NW Spain) , 1999 .

[32]  E. Achterberg,et al.  On-line voltammetric monitoring of dissolved Cu and Ni in the Gulf of Cadiz, south-west Spain , 1998 .

[33]  M. Gómez-Gesteira,et al.  Evaluation of the Seasonal Variations in the Residual Circulation in the Rı́a of Vigo (NW Spain) by Means of a 3D Baroclinic Model , 1998 .

[34]  J. Bacon,et al.  Chemical forms of heavy metals in surface sediments of the san Simón inlet, Ría de vigo, galicia , 1997 .

[35]  R. Bao,et al.  Upwelling influence on the Galician coast: silicate in shelf water and underlying surface sediments , 1997 .

[36]  C. Vale,et al.  Tidal flushing of ammonium from intertidal sediments of Ria Formosa, Portugal , 1995, Netherland Journal of Aquatic Ecology.

[37]  R. Howland,et al.  THE BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLING OF DISSOLVED SILICATE IN A GALICIAN RIA , 1995 .

[38]  D. Cossa,et al.  Trace metal distribution, partition and fluxes in the Seine estuary (France) in low discharge regime , 1994 .

[39]  E. Achterberg,et al.  In-line ultraviolet-digestion of natural water samples for trace metal determination using an automated voltammetric system , 1994 .

[40]  R. Prego.  Biogeochemical Pathways of Phosphate in a Galician Ria (North-western Iberian Peninsula) , 1993 .

[41]  R. Prego,et al.  A simple model to calculate the residual flows in a Spanish ria. Hydrographic consequences in the ria of Vigo , 1992 .

[42]  A. W. Morris,et al.  Particulate metals in five major North sea estuaries , 1991 .

[43]  G. Mul,et al.  The Effect of TiO2 Nanoparticle Size on Photo-Catalytic Performance in Selective Propane Oxidation , 2011 .

[44]  R. Prego,et al.  Lead and Zinc contamination of surface sediments in the main harbours of the Galician Rias Contaminación del sedimento superficial por plomo y cinc en los principales puertos de las rías gallegas , 2008 .

[45]  A. Carballeira,et al.  Regional-scale monitoring of coastal contamination. Nutrients and heavy metals in estuarine sediments and organisms on the coast of Galicia (northwest Spain) , 2000 .

[46]  P. Santschi,et al.  Estuarine trace metal distributions in Galveston Bay: importance of colloidal forms in the speciation of the dissolved phase , 1999 .

[47]  G. Millward,et al.  Fluxes and retention of trace metals in the Humber Estuary , 1997 .

[48]  M. Tranter,et al.  Processes controlling chemical distributions in the Firth of Clyde (Scotland) , 1995 .

[49]  R. Prego.  Nitrogen interchanges generated by biogeochemical processes in a Galician ria , 1994 .

[50]  N. Morley,et al.  Fluxes of Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn , 1993 .

[51]  A. Ríos,et al.  Water interchange between the Ría of Vigo and the coastal shelf , 1990 .

[52]  Ramón Otero Pedrayo.  Os rios galegos , 1977 .