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A study on fine-suspended sediment (FSS) yield dynamics was performed in the Piracicaba River drainage basin in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, during an entire hydrological year, and a set of nine flood hydrographs that encompass wet and dry seasons were analysed. The average-specific sediment transport was 88 t km−2 y−1. Hydrograph analysis verified that the lowest sediment yield, totalling 313 t, was related to the driest season of the hydrological year; whereas, the highest yield, amounting to 196,000 t, was related to the season of heaviest rainfall. Both unit hydrographs lasted 10 consecutive days, yet they were obtained under adverse hydrological conditions, with accumulated precipitation in the dry and wet seasons of 14 and 319 mm, respectively, which likely gave rise to different soil saturation levels and changes in surface runoff. This increase in FSS yield, which is greater than 600-fold, is possibly related not only to the different hydrological conditions, but also to the use and occ...

Os principais aspectos do comportamento dinâmico fluvial das cargas dissolvida e particulada de uma microbacia de drenagem reflorestada com eucaliptos em Angatuba (SP) foram avaliados durante dois eventos chuvosos de 28 e 25 mm, respectivamente antes e após o corte da madeira. Para a carga dissolvida foi possível observar que as concentrações dos cátions e ânions variaram inversamente com a vazão, evidenciando mecanismos de diluição, mas com significante contribuição no processo de subida das águas, antes dos picos das vazões, em função da contribuição proveniente do escoamento superficial. A comparação entre as curvas de distribuição das mesmas com os respectivos modelos de diluição teórica evidenciou predomínio de aportes difusos, mas com significativa contribuição dos tratos culturais e adubação exercidas na microbacia (casos de K+, Cl- e SO4(2-)), principalmente na amostragem realizada posterior ao corte de madeira. Em termos de carga particulada, as concentrações de material particulado em suspensão (MPS) se relacionaram positivamente com a vazão nos dois períodos estudados, indicando maior transporte deste material nas maiores vazões. O estudo da relação concentração-vazão permitiu evidenciar diferenças nas dinâmicas dos processos de remobilização e sedimentação, influenciadas pelos volumes das chuvas, condições de saturação dos solos na microbacia e regimes hidrológicos. Os fluxos específicos de MPS foram da ordem 2.330 e 2.121 g km-2 h-1, respectivamente antes e após o corte da madeira, indicando grande contribuição da área cultivada com eucaliptos para os processos erosivos mecânicos. The main aspects of dissolved and particulate loads dynamic behavior in a small catchment of reforested eucalyptus were evaluated for two rainfall events of 28 and 25 mm before and after clear cutting. For the dissolved load, cations and anions varied inversely with the discharge, showing mechanisms of dilution, but with significant inputs before high discharges. The comparison between distribution concentrations curves with their theoretical dilution models revealed predominance of diffuse inputs, but with significant contribution of fertilization treatments, cases of K+, Cl- and SO4(2-), mainly after clear cutting. The fluvial particulate load, represented by suspended particulate matter (SPM), showed a positive relationship with discharges, with greater concentrations in higher flow rates for both periods. The relationship between MPS concentrations and discharges showed differences in the dynamics of remobilization and sedimentation processes influenced by precipitation, saturated soils conditions and hydrological regimes. Specific flows of MPS were approximately 2330.1 and 2121.1 g km-2 h-1, before and after clear cutting, respectively, indicating a major effect of the eucalyptus planted area on mechanical erosion.

The fractionation of heavy metals in riverbed sediments along the Tiete River basin, a highly polluted river in southeast region of Brazil, was investigated using a four-step sequential extraction procedure, in order to determine the concentration and distribution of Cu, Co, Cr, Cd, Zn, Ni and Pb, in the river bottom sediments, related to the potential mobility of geochemical phases. Around the metropolitan area of the City of Sao Paulo, which has 25 million people, the pollution is associated with municipal wastes and industrial effluents. Potentials of high mobility were observed for Cu and Zn along the entire river basin, associated mainly to the organic fraction, while at the Pirapora and Anhembi stations (upper and middle parts of the basin, respectively) the reactive forms of Ni and Pb were more associated to the Fe and Mn oxides. Near the mouth of the Tiete River, no significant contaminations caused by Cr and Ni in riverbed sediments was verified confirming the presence of these metals in ...

A influência dos efluentes urbanos brutos na carga dissolvida do rio Piracicaba em termos de carga de poluição per capita das principais espécies químicas inorgânicas dissolvidas, foi estimada a partir de um modelo de aportes de efluentes pontuais sem tratamento prévio na zona urbana central do município de Piracicaba (SP). As cargas químicas inorgânicas, representadas pelos cátions e ânions principais e a sílica dissolvida foram determinadas nos efluentes brutos e no próprio rio, antes e depois da área urbana. O modelo utilizado permitiu estimar as contribuições dessas espécies químicas nas cargas totais dos efluentes para toda a bacia de drenagem e quantificar em termos mais específicos os respectivos aportes por habitante. The influence of urban raw sewage, in terms of per capita load pollution of major dissolved inorganic chemical species, in fluvial dissolved load was estimated using a model of punctual sewage contributions without previous treatment, in urban central area of Piracicaba city, SP. The inorganic loads represented by major cations, anions and dissolved silica, were determined in both raw sewage and in the river, before and after the river crossing the urban area. This model also allowed the contributions of these chemical species of total effluent loads to be estimated for the entire drainage basin, as well their respective contributions per capita.