Phosphate adsorption and desorption in a tropical estuary (Maracaibo system) |
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| Authors: | D López-Hernández T Herrera F Rotondo |
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| Institution: | Facultad de Ciencias, Laboratorio de Estudios Ambientales, I.Z.T., University Central de Venezuela, Venezuela |
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| Abstract: | The Maracaibo Estuary is of particular interest because of its location in the tropics, its large size (over 12,000 km2), the economic importance of its underlying hydrocarbon deposits and its increasing rate of pollution. Sediments from this estuary were studied in order to characterise their capacity to adsorb and desorb phosphorus. Considerable variability in capacity for phosphate sorption was found among the seventeen samples studied. This variability can be attributed first to the differences among the samples in total P content and, secondly, to their differences in free iron content. Also, it appears that P retention contributes to the control of P concentration in the water and therefore the sediments serve as a buffer in controlling P eutrophication in the estuary. |
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