Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Artigo Produção Nacional Revisado por pares

BIBTEX RIS

End-member modeling and sediment trend analysis as tools for sedimentary processes inference in a subtropical estuary

2022; Elsevier BV; Volume: 278; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.ecss.2022.108126

1096-0015

Ítalo M. Paladino, Mateus Farias Mengatto, Michel Michaelovitch de Mahiques, Maurício Almeida Noernberg, Renata Hanae Nagai,

Coastal and Marine Dynamics

Mathematical models based on grain size data enable identifying sediment transport sources and processes in coastal regions, helping to understand the relationship between hydrodynamic and sedimentary processes. This study applied End-Member Analysis and Grain Size Trend Analysis to a grain size database from the Paranaguá Estuarine Complex (PEC), a subtropical estuary in southern Brazil. The end-member analysis allowed identifying three grain size populations, whose spatial distribution is influenced by the dynamics between river discharge and tidal currents acting in the Paranaguá Estuarine Complex. The end-member 1 — formed by finer sediments — is mainly distributed over Antonina Bay and extends into the maximum turbidity zone. The Grain Sized Trend Analysis revealed that these sediments — derived from the weathering of rocks from the Serra do Mar mountain range system — are transported in the west-east direction by river discharge, mainly from the Cachoeira and Nhundiaquara rivers. Furthermore, our results indicate that sediments from end-members 2 and 3 — which are coarser — are distributed in the Paranaguá and Laranjeiras Bays. The transport of these sediments happens towards the center of the estuary due to wave- and tidal-generated currents.