Provenance of sediments and environmental risk assessment of heavy metals in the “Mis Amores” beach, Veracruz, Gulf of Mexico, Mexico

Mayla AlhelÃ­ RÃ¡mos-Vazquez; John S Armstrong-Altrin; Gloria D Fernández-Guevara; Jayagopal Madhavaraju; Sanjeet K Verma; Rathinam Arthur James

doi:10.51710/jias.v41iI.355

Authors

Mayla AlhelÃ RÃ¡mos-Vazquez División de Geociencias Aplicadas, Instituto Potosino de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (IPICYT), Camino a la Presa San José 2055, San Luis Potosí 78216, México
John S Armstrong-Altrin Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Unidad de Procesos Oceánicos y Costeros, Ciudad Universitaria, Ciudad de México 04510, Mexico
Gloria D Fernández-Guevara Posgrado en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510 Mexico City, CDMX, Mexico
Jayagopal Madhavaraju Estación Regional del Noroeste, Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Sanjeet K Verma División de Geociencias Aplicadas, Instituto Potosino de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (IPICYT), Camino a la Presa San José 2055, San Luis Potosí 78216, México
Rathinam Arthur James Department of Marine Sciences, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, 620024, Tamil Nadu, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51710/jias.v41iI.355

Keywords:

Environmental pollution, provenance, clastic sediments, heavy metals, tectonic setting

Abstract

In this study, grain-size, mineralogy, and geochemistry of Mis Amores (MA) beach sediments, Tuxpan, Veracruz State, Gulf of Mexico are analyzed. The textural parameters reveal that the sediments are fine-grained and vary from well-sorted to very well-sorted nature. The SEM-EDS analysis reveal that the sediments are abundant in minerals such as quartz, alkali feldspars, zircon, ilmenite, and pyroxene. Geochemically, the sediments are classified as sub-arkose type. The Chondrite normalized rare earth elements (REE) pattern suggest that the source area is dominated by felsic and intermediate igneous rocks (Eu/Eu^* = 0.90 - 1.19, number of samples n = 16). The provenance discrimination diagrams indicated that the MA sediments were derived by the weathering of felsic igneous rocks, probably from the Trans Mexican Volcanic Belt. The results of this study reveal that the Tuxpan River played an important role in delivering sediments to the MA beach area.

The environmental indices suggest that the sediments are moderately contaminated by Zn and moderate to extremely contaminated by Cu and As. The Cu (> 84%) and Zn (> 82%) concentrations are predominantly associated with the exchangeable fraction, which are readily bioavailable. Cu, As, and Zn in the MA sediments were derived from the agricultural activities and waste water discharges from the sanitary network of the Tuxpan town and port.

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