Caracterización de los sedimentos de la laguna de Punzara

Abstract

Abstract: The study focuses on the characterisation of the sediments of the Punzara lagoon in the city of Loja (Ecuador), highlighting the importance of these deposits, as they can provide a valuable temporal reconstruction of environmental changes. For this purpose, a criterion sampling was carried out, where it was taken into account that the point should be strategically located and allow the sample taken to be representative. Ten points were taken and for each point an A and B core was taken around the lagoon, varying between 50 and a maximum of 30 cm in length, with the aim of using 10 cores for laboratory analysis and the remaining 10 cores for sediment characterisation. In order to proceed with the description of structures and to determine the texture of the sediments. It was found that the texture was homogeneous with a clayey silt matrix with the presence of sand grains and detritus, arranged in specific sections. In addition, the elemental composition Si, Al, Fe, K, Mn, Mg, Zn, S, Ti, Cr, Sr, Nb Ba and Pb determined by X-ray Fluorescence was analysed to reconstruct the changes in the flow and provenance of the sediments, since, the major elements and metals tend to accumulate in the sediments according to the particle size distribution. Therefore, X-Ray Diffraction analyses were carried out, taking into account the geology of the site to identify the mineral phases and determine their association with the concentrations of the elements. This study aims to provide new knowledge about the Punzara Lagoon and to increase the importance of research on lake systems.