A multi-elemental study to establish the natural background and geochemical anomalies in rocks from the Sonora river upper basin, NW Mexico

Growing industrialization, including mining activity, dramatically increases environmental pollution. Exploitation of natural resources triggers landscape alteration, inputs of potentially toxic chemical elements to the environment and health diseases. In the case of mining activity, the measure of...

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Main Authors: Thierry Calmus, Martín Valencia-Moreno, Rafael Del Río-Salas, Lucas Ochoa-Landín, Héctor Mendivil-Quijada
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México 2018-07-01
Series:Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas
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Online Access:https://rmcg.unam.mx/index.php/rmcg/article/view/605
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author Thierry Calmus
Martín Valencia-Moreno
Rafael Del Río-Salas
Lucas Ochoa-Landín
Héctor Mendivil-Quijada
author_facet Thierry Calmus
Martín Valencia-Moreno
Rafael Del Río-Salas
Lucas Ochoa-Landín
Héctor Mendivil-Quijada
author_sort Thierry Calmus
collection DOAJ
description Growing industrialization, including mining activity, dramatically increases environmental pollution. Exploitation of natural resources triggers landscape alteration, inputs of potentially toxic chemical elements to the environment and health diseases. In the case of mining activity, the measure of any associated environmental disturbance requires a geochemical background as a reference frame. Since in Mexico, there is a lack of this type of references in mining districts, the present study took a recent mining spill as an opportunity to establish the geochemical background of the upper Sonora river basin, which includes active and historical mining areas. The weighted average of elemental values was calculated using GIS tools. The data show that rocks have a similar geochemical behavior, which is characterized by pristine enrichment of Mn, Ca, P, Ba, Zn, As, Ag, Sb, W, Pb and Bi relative to the upper continental crust. Coefficients of variation values reveal that Sc, Y, Zr, Ce, Yb, Fe, Ti and Al display a conservative behavior and, therefore, they are recommended to be used as reference elements in environmental studies in the basin. The findings of this work highlight the need of determining the geochemical background in mining regions to reach more realistic environmental assessments.
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spelling doaj-art-fa38052edb97427cbc0d18141e7bcab32025-08-20T03:44:51ZengUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoRevista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas1026-87742007-29022018-07-0135210.22201/cgeo.20072902e.2018.2.605A multi-elemental study to establish the natural background and geochemical anomalies in rocks from the Sonora river upper basin, NW MexicoThierry Calmus0Martín Valencia-Moreno1Rafael Del Río-Salas2Lucas Ochoa-Landín3Héctor Mendivil-Quijada4Estación Regional del Noroeste, Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, L.D. Colosio y Madrid S/N, Col. Los Arcos, Hermosillo, Sonora, 83240, Mexico.Estación Regional del Noroeste, Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, L.D. Colosio y Madrid S/N, Col. Los Arcos, Hermosillo, Sonora, 83240, Mexico.Estación Regional del Noroeste, Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, L.D. Colosio y Madrid S/N, Col. Los Arcos, Hermosillo, Sonora, 83240, Mexico.Departamento de Geología, Universidad de Sonora, Blvd. Luis Encinas y Rosales S/N, Col. Centro, Hermosillo, Sonora, 83000, Mexico.GEO Digital Imaging de México, S.A. de C.V., Avenida Dr. Paliza 94, Col. Centenario, Hermosillo, Sonora, 83260, Mexico. Growing industrialization, including mining activity, dramatically increases environmental pollution. Exploitation of natural resources triggers landscape alteration, inputs of potentially toxic chemical elements to the environment and health diseases. In the case of mining activity, the measure of any associated environmental disturbance requires a geochemical background as a reference frame. Since in Mexico, there is a lack of this type of references in mining districts, the present study took a recent mining spill as an opportunity to establish the geochemical background of the upper Sonora river basin, which includes active and historical mining areas. The weighted average of elemental values was calculated using GIS tools. The data show that rocks have a similar geochemical behavior, which is characterized by pristine enrichment of Mn, Ca, P, Ba, Zn, As, Ag, Sb, W, Pb and Bi relative to the upper continental crust. Coefficients of variation values reveal that Sc, Y, Zr, Ce, Yb, Fe, Ti and Al display a conservative behavior and, therefore, they are recommended to be used as reference elements in environmental studies in the basin. The findings of this work highlight the need of determining the geochemical background in mining regions to reach more realistic environmental assessments. https://rmcg.unam.mx/index.php/rmcg/article/view/605geochemical backgroundconservative reference elementsSonora river upper basinmining districtMexico
spellingShingle Thierry Calmus
Martín Valencia-Moreno
Rafael Del Río-Salas
Lucas Ochoa-Landín
Héctor Mendivil-Quijada
A multi-elemental study to establish the natural background and geochemical anomalies in rocks from the Sonora river upper basin, NW Mexico
Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas
geochemical background
conservative reference elements
Sonora river upper basin
mining district
Mexico
title A multi-elemental study to establish the natural background and geochemical anomalies in rocks from the Sonora river upper basin, NW Mexico
title_full A multi-elemental study to establish the natural background and geochemical anomalies in rocks from the Sonora river upper basin, NW Mexico
title_fullStr A multi-elemental study to establish the natural background and geochemical anomalies in rocks from the Sonora river upper basin, NW Mexico
title_full_unstemmed A multi-elemental study to establish the natural background and geochemical anomalies in rocks from the Sonora river upper basin, NW Mexico
title_short A multi-elemental study to establish the natural background and geochemical anomalies in rocks from the Sonora river upper basin, NW Mexico
title_sort multi elemental study to establish the natural background and geochemical anomalies in rocks from the sonora river upper basin nw mexico
topic geochemical background
conservative reference elements
Sonora river upper basin
mining district
Mexico
url https://rmcg.unam.mx/index.php/rmcg/article/view/605
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