Trace metal characterization and fluxes from the Guadiana, Tinto-Odiel and Guadalquivir estuaries to the Gulf of Cadiz.

Abstract Metals transported into the coastal zone by the South Iberian rivers are key to understand the biogeochemical cycles and distribution of trace elements in the Gulf of Cadiz (GoC hereinafter) and the exchange with the Mediterranean Sea. Previous studies carried out in the 80s have suggested that metal enrichment in the Alboran Sea (Western Mediterranean) is related with fluvial inputs from acid mine drainage from the Tinto and Odiel rivers. The present study evaluates the contribution of dissolved trace metal concentrations (i.e. Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mo, Ni, Pb, V, Zn) from the three main rivers discharging into the GoC (i.e. Guadiana, Tinto-Odiel and Guadalquivir rivers). Our results show that the metal composition of water discharged from each river is impacted by the activities developed in the course of the rivers, which clearly influence the GoC coastal surface waters composition. Metal fluxes from the Guadalquivir river are quantitatively higher than those from the Tinto-Odiel (e.g. up to 73% and 19% higher for Ni and Cu, respectively). Although the metal concentrations spatial distributions in the GoC are dominated by the circulation pattern between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea, the concentrations within the GoC continental shelf could be explained by a greater contribution from the Guadalquivir estuary (e.g. 80.5%, 54.6%, 56.5% and 56.6% for Ni, Cu, Mo, and V respectively). Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • High metal concentrations in the Tinto-Odiel estuary by historical mining activities • Metal concentrations in Guadiana and Guadalquivir mostly due to urban-agricultural uses • High fluxes of Ni (73%) and Cu (19%) from the Guadalquivir river to the GoC shelf • Metal pattern over continental shelf largely determined by the Guadalquivir fluxes • Net transport of trace metals from Guadalquivir river to the Mediterranean Sea [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]