Arsenic concentrations in soils and sediments of the southern Pampean Plain, within Claromecó River Basin (Argentina)

Abstract:

The Pampean plain is an extensive flatland covering ~1000000 km² of central and northern Argentina. The region, dominated by Neogene and quaternary volcanoclastic loess and loess-like deposits, shows one of the highest groundwater As concentrations of the world which cause serious problems to human health. The oxidising and high pH conditions of the Pampean groundwater leads to the dissolution of volcanic glass and Fe oxy-hydroxides and the release of As to water.

Variation of As content related to lithogenic factors is evident from our study in Claromecó River Basin (Southern Pampean plain): the Mio-Pliocene fluvial facies (MPFF) show low As content (2.6mg/kg) compared to the Late Pleistocene fluvial facies (11.6mg/kg; LPFF). Furthermore, the pedogenic calcrete and the paleosols developed in fluvial facies present significantly different As content: 3.9 mg/Kg in MPFF pedogenic calcrete and 16.5 mg/Kg in LPFF paleosols. Modern soils show the highest As content, especially in the illuvial horizons (23.3 mg/Kg) controlled by grain size and clay mineralogy constituents.

Preliminary results demonstrate a sedimentological control embarking differences in As concentrations. These differences are probably attributed to a major hydraulic gradient during the MPFF, which is reflected in grain size and in fluvial structures, which probably was followed by washed out sediments. A geomorphological control was observed through an increase of As concentrations from the interfluves (MPFF) to the valleys (LPFF) as well as from the upper to the lower basin zone within the LPFF. Pedogenic calcrete and paleosols developed in MPFF and LPFF respectively reflect the different geomorphological conditions showing high As content in LPFF paleosols (attributed to Fe oxy-hydroxides). This study relates mineralogy and sedimentological environment to groundwater, surface water from wetlands to understand the hydrochemical processes in controlling As within the Claromecó basin.