Resumen

ZAMARRENO, Ricardo; CABANA, Ricardo; VERGARA, Karen  y  CORTEZ, Susana. Displacement of metallic elements in the El Culebrón estuary, due to the presence of an abandoned mining tailings, Coquimbo - Chile. rev.udcaactual.divulg.cient. [online]. 2020, vol.23, n.2, e1656.  Epub 30-Jul-2020. ISSN 0123-4226.  https://doi.org/10.31910/rudca.v23.n2.2020.1656.

The presence of mining waste in the Coquimbo Region is a serious problem, which impacts the environment and society. The impact generated by the presence of an abandoned tailings located in the El Culebrón wetland, which is coastal and urban, was studied, determining the quantity and mobility of some elements that are present in this tailings. Two stages of soil sampling were carried out in the wetland area and in the tailings, which were subjected to acid digestion and quantification by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The metals with the highest concentration were iron, followed by aluminum, in less quantity were zinc, arsenic, and lead. Aluminum had a different behavior from the others, since it presented low concentration in the tailings, and equivalent concentrations in the different sampled areas, giving the idea that it is naturally in the wetland. Arsenic was highly mobile, since its highest concentration is at the tailings limit and its concentration varied in the different areas of the wetland. From the study, it was concluded that the distribution of these elements in the study area is due to two important factors, the first due to the natural geochemical process of mobility of these components and the second and most important is the tsunami suffered by the commune of Coquimbo in 2015.

Palabras clave : Solubility of metals; Wetland; Chemical characterization; Metal mobility.

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