Environmental Assessment of Patagonia's Water Resources

This book presents contributions devoted to the hydrogeochemical characterization of aquatic environments of Patagonia, including those of Ushuaia city, known as "The southernmost city in the world". Patagonia (between 39° and 55° S) is located in southern South America. Eight main river systems pour their waters into the SW Atlantic Ocean. Rivers, with their headwaters mainly located in the Andes, supply dissolved and particulate matter to the coastal zone, as well as nutrients, which benefit biological communities. Besides, freshwater in this region with little anthropogenic impact supports human life and a high wildlife biodiversity. Unfortunately, the recent increase in human activities, such as the use of fertilizers, wastewater discharges, extensive deforestation and dam construction, is affecting the quality and quantity of water resources. The book is of interest for researchers, professors and government agencies that decide on water resources management policies.

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Foreward DEPETRIS, P.J. Introduction TORRES, A.I., AND CAMPODONICO, V.A. 1 Effects of Multiple Stressors Associated with Land-use Practices in the Percy Corintos Basin (Northwest Chubut): An Ecological Assessment MISERENDINO, M.L., WILLIAMS-SUBIZA, E., MANZO, L.M., HORAK, C.N., BRAND, C., ASSEF, Y.A., AND EPELE, L.B. 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Study Area Description 1.2.1 Esquel Stream 1.2.2 Percy River 1.2.3 Corintos Lower Basin 1.3 Land Use Practices in the Catchment 1.3.1 Esquel Stream-Percy River System: Urbanization Effects 1.3.2 Lower Percy River: Sedimentation and Eutrophication Symptoms 1.3.3 Effects of Agricultural Practices on the Corintos Lower Basin 1.3.4 Environmental and Ecological Functions of Wetlands in the Basin 1.3.5 Water Quality and the Ecological Status of the Aquatic Systems in the Basin 1.4 Mitigation Action and Perspectives 2 The Manso River Drainage System in the Northern Patagonian Andes: Hydrological, Hydrochemical and Nutrient Dynamics LECOMTE, K.L., PASQUINI, A.I., SEPÚLVEDA, L.D., TEMPORETTI, P., PEDROZO, F., AND DEPETRIS, P.J. 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Geographical Framework 2.3 Hydroclimatic Overview 2.4 Hydrochemistry and Weathering Signature 2.5 Suspended Sediments and Nutrient Dynamic 2.6 Concluding Summary 3 Geothermal Influence on the Hydrochemistry of Surface Streams in Patagonia Neuquina VILLALBA, E., SANTUCCI, L., BORZI, G., PASQUINI, A.I., PÁEZ, G., AND CAROL, E. 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Field Methodology and Laboratory Analysis 3.3 Chemical Characteristics of Streams 3.4 Hydrogeochemical Processes and Geothermal Influence on Streams 3.5 Perspectives and Future Work 4 Hydrogeochemistry of an Acid River and Lake Related to an Active Volcano. The Case of Study: Agrio River - Copahue Volcano in Patagonia, Argentina LLANO, J., LAMBERTI, M.C., SIERRA, D., AND AGUSTO, M. 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Study Area 4.2.1 Geological Setting 4.2.2 The Hydrological System of the Caviahue-Copahue Volcanic Complex 4.3 Methodology 4.4 Results 4.5 Discussion 4.5.1 Major cations 4.5.2 Trace and Rare Earth Elements 4.5.3 Hydroxysulfates Precipitation 4.6 Conclusions 5 Negro River Environmental Assessment ARIAS, A.H., MACCHI, P., ABRAMETTO, M., SOLIMANO, P., MIGUELES, N., RIVAS, F.G., FUNES, A.I., CALABRESE, G., SORICETTI, M., BERNARDIS, A., BAGGIO, R.B., LABAUT, Y., AND MARCOVECCHIO, J.E. 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Persistent Organic Pollutants 5.3 Heavy Metal Pollution 5.3.1 Water 5.3.2 Sediments 5.3.3 Fish 5.4 Freshwater Macroinvertebrates Assemblages 5.5 Introduced species: Status and Potential Problems 5.5.1 Salmonids 5.5.2 Cyprinus carpio 5.5.3 Native species 5.5.3.1 Geotria macrostoma 5.5.3.2 Aplochiton spp. 5.5.3.3 Dyplomistes viedmensis 5.5.4 Environmental Threats for Fish Assemblages 6 Patagonia's Chubut River: Overview of the Main Hydrological and Geochemical Features DEPETRIS, P.J., AND PASQUINI, A.I. 6.1 Introduction 6.1.1 Physiographic and Climatic Features 6.1.2 Geological Setting 6.1.3 Methodology 6.2 Hydrological Aspects 6.3 Geochemical Perspective 6.3.1 Main Characteristics 6.3.2 Provenance of Inorganic Dissolved Phases 6.3.3 The Organic Load 6.4 Sediments 6.4.1 TSS Yield and Transport 6.4.2 The Geochemical Signature of Sediments 6.5 Summary and Final Comments 7 Hydrochemical Characteristics of Mid-Low Sections of North Patagonia Rivers, Argentina VÉLEZ-AGUDELO, C., MARTÍNEZ, D.E., QUIROZ LONDOÑO, O.M., AND ESPINOSA, M.A. 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Regional Setting and Previous Studies 7.3 Materials and Methods 7.3.1 Sample Collection and Chemical Analysis 7.3.2 Preprocessing Data and Numerical Methods 7.4 Results 7.4.1 General and Seasonal Variability 7.4.2 Rivers Hydrogeochemistry 7.5 Discussion 7.6 Conclusions 8 Hydrochemistry of Patagonian Wet Meadows (mallines) Under Different Geological Frames ALVAREZ, M.P., CAROL, E., PASQUALE PÉREZ, M.P., MELENDI, E., AND VILLALBA, E. 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Wet Meadows in the Mountain Sector of the Neuquén Embayment. Domuyo Sector 8.3 Wet Meadows in the Patagonian Tablelands. Península Valdés Sector 8.4 Wet Meadows Associated with the Somún Curá Massif. Carri Laufquen Sector 8.5 Wet Meadows Associated with the Deseado Massif 8.6 Perspective and Future Work 9 The Main Hydrological Features of Patagonia's Santa Cruz River: An Updated Assessment PASQUINI, A.I., COSENTINO, N.J., AND DEPETRIS, P.J. 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Geographical Features 9.2.1 ENSO and SAM 9.3 Data and Methods 9.4 River discharge dynamics 9.4.1 Mean Hydrograph and Discharge Time Series 9.4.2 Trends 9.4.3 The Connection Between Glacier's Collapse and River Discharge 9.4.4 Harmonic Analysis 9.5 Concluding Comments 10 The Role of Sediments and Phosphorus in the Evaluation of Water Resources Quality in Patagonia TEMPORETTI, P., BEAMUD, G., LEÓN, J., ROTONDO, L., CUEVAS, M., AND PEDROZO, F. 10.1 Introduction 10.1.1 Study Area 10.1.2 Methodology 10.2 Effect of pH in P Ad...