Submitted by Natalia de Souza Gonçalves (natalia.goncalves@ufpe.br) on 2016-09-19T14:23:00Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Atualizada_Dissertação Yuri Prestes 2016 PPGO l.pdf: 5509758 bytes, checksum: 8f72293dc72621c1a2af7560c8875b2a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-19T14:23:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Atualizada_Dissertação Yuri Prestes 2016 PPGO l.pdf: 5509758 bytes, checksum: 8f72293dc72621c1a2af7560c8875b2a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-19 / Este trabalho tem foco em processos físicos oceanográficos que dominam a interação entre o estuário do Rio Pará e a Plataforma Continental Amazônica (PCA). Esta, amplamente estudada pela comunidade científica por diversas áreas do conhecimento, comumente atrelada à influência do Rio Amazonas sobre a plataforma continental e/ou às correntes oceânicas de contorno oeste que atuam nessa região do Oceano Atlântico tropical. Contudo, uma importante questão ainda não respondida é qual a influência do estuário do Rio Pará sobre a PCA? O objetivo do presente trabalho é analisar a interação das forçantes físicas dentro do sistema Rio Pará-PCA. Medições eulerianas na plataforma e no estuário foram realizadas de modo a abranger as variabilidades temporais da área de estudo. Na plataforma, a coleta de dados ocorreu de Abril à Julho de 2008, período que abrange a diminuição da descarga fluvial, mudanças na direção dos alísios e intensificação da Corrente Norte do Brasil (CNB). No estuário, os levantamentos realizados ocorreram ao longo de um ciclo completo de maré semidiurno, durante o período seco (Outubro 2014) e o período chuvoso (Junho 2015) da região amazônica. Também foi elaborado um modelo em caixa (box model) de descarga para estivar a magnitude do aporte fluvial do Rio Pará. A propagação da onda de maré domina o sistema, gerando fluxos bidirecionais em regiões de micromaré a mais de 300 km de distância da foz do estuário. Na PCA, a maré gera intensas correntes barotrópicas no sentido da componente de velocidade transversal à plataforma, até alcançar a foz do sistema estuarino. Na quebra da plataforma, no período em que a CNB se intensifica, suas bordas de corrente atingem a PCA em profundidades < 100 m, agindo como um importante mecanismo nas trocas entre a plataforma amazônica e o oceano profundo do Atlântico Tropical. A magnitude da descarga média estimada pelo box model foi de 2 x 104 m3s-1, demonstrando também que o maior contribuinte hídrico para o Rio Pará é o Rio Tocantins. A força de empuxo gerada pela descarga fluvial interage com a força da maré, produzindo variabilidade lateral no estuário do Rio Pará. Na margem direita, há tendência de fluxos laminares, estratificação vertical e correntes baroclínicas, com processos mistura principalmente por difusão. Entre tanto, na margem esquerda, foi verificado a presença de fluxos turbulentos, ausência de gradientes de densidade vertical e correntes barotrópicas, de modo que os processos de mistura por advecção dominam a mistura no sistema. Os resultados apresentados ao longo de três artigos científicos enfatizaram o quão complexo e dinâmico é o sistema Rio Pará-PCA. Esta característica dinâmica do sistema gera a extrema necessidade de que as atividades potencialmente danosas devem ser desenvolvidas juntamente com medidas de prevenção para evitar danos ao meio ambiente. / This work aims to study on oceanographic physical process that dominate the interaction between the Pará River estuary and Amazon Continental Shelf (ACS). This widely studied by the scientific community in various areas of geosciences, commonly associated to Amazon River influence on the continental shelf, or to boundary ocean currents which occur in western of Atlantic Tropical. However, an important question not answered yet, is the influence of Para River estuary on the ACS? The objective of this study is to analyze the interaction of physical forcings within the Pará River-ACS system. Eulerian measurements on the platform and in the estuary were carried out to cover the temporal variability of the study area. On the amazon shelf, data collection occurred from period of April to July 2008 covering the decrease in river discharge, changes in the direction of the trade and intensification of the North Brazil Current (NBC). In the estuary, the surveys occur over a full semidiurnal tidal cycle during the amazonian dry season (October 2014) and the rainy season (June 2015). It was also prepared a discharge box model to estimate the magnitude of fluvial contribution of Pará River on the ACS. The tidal wave propagation dominates the system, generating bidirecional flows in microtides regions more than 300 km away from the estuary mouth. In the ACS, the tides creates intense barotropic currents towards the across-shelf velocity component until reach the mouth of the estuary system. On the shelf break, in the period in which the CNB intensifies, its current edges reach the ACS at < 100 depth, acting as an important mechanism in the exchange process between the Amazon shelf and the deep ocean of the Atlantic Tropical. The estimated of average discharge magnitude by box model was 2 x 104 m3s-1, also showing that the largest input to the Pará River is the Tocantins River. The buoyancy force generated by river discharge interacts with the tidal force, producing lateral variability in the estuary of Para River. On the right margin, there is a tendency of laminar flow, vertical stratification and baroclinic currents, with mixing processes primarily forced by diffusion. Meanwhile, the left margin, it was verified the presence of turbulent flow, no vertical density gradients, and intense barotropic currents, so that the advection processes dominate the mixing in the system. The results presented over the three papers emphasize how complex and dynamic is the Pará river-ACS system. This dynamic characteristic generates extreme need for potentially damaging activities should be developed together with preventive measures to avoid damage to the environment.

The aim of this dissertation was to understand lithogenic suspended sediment transport mechanisms and distribution in two river-influenced margins: The Cariaco Basin, Venezuela, and the Amazon Shelf, Brazil. Lithogenic sediment input in the Cariaco Basin is controlled by small mountainous rivers (SMR), while in the Amazon Shelf it is dominated by the Amazon River, the largest river in the world in terms of freshwater discharge (~20% of global riverine discharge). Optical transmissometer measurements were coupled with particulate organic matter (POM) observations to understand changes in the geochemical composition of suspended sediment and spatial/temporal distributions over the two regions of interest. In the Cariaco Basin sampling was conducted during the rainy seasons of September 2003, 2006 and 2008, and during the upwelling period (dry season) of 2009. Our results suggest that bottom nepheloid layers (BNL) originating at the mouth of the SMR discharging into the Cariaco Basin are a major delivery mechanism of terrigenous sediments to the basin's interior year-round. Intermediate nepheloid layers (INL) were also observed near the shelf break (~100m) and appear to effectively carry terrigenous material laterally from the shelf to deep waters, thereby providing a plausible supply mechanism of the terrestrial material observed in sediment traps, deployed >70 km offshore as part of the CARIACO Ocean Time-Series. These findings highlight the importance of small, local rivers in the Cariaco Basin as sources of terrestrial material. Indeed, the low isotopic composition of particulate organic carbon (δ13Corg, ~-30 - -24 ‰) carried by the BNL suggests that this material was continentally derived. BNL δ13Corg also changed with season, indicating that the geochemical composition of BNL reflects particle source. These nepheloid layers contained relatively low POM concentrations (average of 10%), agreeing well with published data, yet the fine sediment of the BNL may serve as mineral ballast, enhancing the sinking velocities of POC and thus increasing the efficiency of the biological pump in Cariaco. We suggest that during the transition between the upwelling and rainy season BNL deliver sediment to the deep Cariaco Basin in pulses. During upwelling, BNL are retained on the inner shelf by onshore Ekman transport associated with upwelling. The nepheloid layers are later released as the upwelling subsides; this, coupled with high river discharge rates, may explain the seasonal pulse of sediment observed at the end of the upwelling period (May) in the sediment trap array. The SMR in Cariaco also have the capacity to deliver large amounts of sediment to the Cariaco Basin during episodic events, such as earthquakes and floods. During September 2008 a sediment density flow was observed in the eastern Cariaco Basin, likely triggered by a magnitude 5.2 earthquake that occurred on August 11, 2008 off the city of Cumaná. Elevated suspended sediments near the bottom were observed at the mouth of the Manzanares Canyon (> 90 g m-2, over a depth of 165 m) and decreased to ~11 g m-2 (over a depth of 40 m) 42 Km away from the canyon's mouth at the CARIACO Ocean Time-Series site (10.5° N, 64.67° W). The sediment flux associated with this single event was ~ 10% of the total annual sediment flux that typically reaches the Cariaco Basin deep seafloor. Average carbon to nitrogen atomic ratios (C/N) as well as C and N isotopic composition confirm that most of the organic matter transferred by the sediment flow was of continental origin (C/N ratios of ~19.3, δ13C of -27.04 ‰, and δ15N of 6.83 ‰). The Manzanares River mouth is located at the head of the canyon, and likely supplies most of the fine grained sediments and fresh organic carbon that accumulate in the upper part of the canyon. This suggests that the canyon is an active depositional center, and its proximity to the Manzanares River and Cariaco Basin is critical for sediment supply offshore, which in turn can have a significant impact on the long-term sequestration of carbon into the deep basin. The nutrient and sediment biogeochemistry of the outer Amazon Shelf was studied in February-March 2010 to replicate observations made by the AmasSeds study in 1989-1991. These transects roughly corresponded to the AmasSeds Open Shelf (OS) and River Mouth (RM) transects. Onshore winds (~6 m s-1) contained the Amazon plume within ~120 Km of the coast; the plume was visible only in the mid-shelf stations located closest to the coast in the OS transect. Within the river plume, surface dissolved inorganic nutrient concentrations were near zero, except for silicates (4-6 μM). Coupled with oxygen supersaturation (AOU < 1), this suggested complete biological uptake of the major dissolved inorganic nutrients (N, P). Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was also highest within the plume (average of 116 μM), decreasing to ~73 μM in oceanic waters. Total suspended solids (TSS) in surface waters within the plume were ~1-1.5 mg l-1, decreasing to ~0.2-0.3 mg l-1 in all other sampled stations both over the shelf and in deeper waters. TSS were highest within BNL (22-33 mg l-1) observed over the inner shelf; BNL were not observed outside the area of the Amazon plume. Suspended particulate organic carbon (POCsusp) showed a depleted δ13C isotopic signal (~-25 ‰ to -28 ‰) in surface and bottom waters, suggesting terrestrial provenance. Within the BNL, %POC was low (0.6-0.9%, as compared to 7-18% in surface waters), showing extensive and rapid decomposition of organic matter over the shelf. Atomic C/N ratios in particulate organic matter both in surface waters and within BNL were relatively close to Redfield's (8-14) and relatively stable over the area sampled. Particulate atomic organic carbon vs. particulate organic phosphorous (POC/POP) ratios were also low within the BNL (~110) and increased offshore (>500), suggesting a direct input of particulate P from the Amazon River or from reworked surface sediments. The fraction of POC in surface sediments was also low (0.73 ±; 0.56%; N = 5) and relatively uniform across the region sampled. We estimated instantaneous fluxes of 38.7 metric tons TSS s-1, 0.24 metric tons POC s-1 and 6.42 x 10-3 metric tons POP s-1 northwestward over an area extending between ~50 Km and 120 Km offshore. Our TSS estimates are 30% lower than those calculated by Nittrouer et al. (1986) during peak discharge of the Amazon. We also calculated that some 1.50 Tg yr-1 of DOC were being flushed northwestward along the outer shelf annually, which represent ~6% of the total DOC transported by the Amazon. By analyzing these two geographical settings it was possible to compare and contrast transport mechanisms of continentally-derived material and establish the relative importance of each mechanism in their different environment. There is still much to be understood regarding BNL in the Cariaco Basin, such as their role within the Manzanares Submarine Canyon with regards to sediment contribution and deposition. Additionally, during the last 30 years, anthropogenic influences on the small rivers around the Basin have significantly altered the drainage and sediment loads, yet reliable data to quantify the level of influence and change over time are not available. We need a better understanding of the natural variability of these small, tropical fluvial systems, trends and impact of episodic events, to better interpret the climate record stored at the bottom of the basin and predict future ecosystem changes in the region. In the Amazon Shelf, more accurate estimates of DOC, POC and POP fluxes northwestward are warranted. The magnitude of the Amazon River discharge dampens changes that have occurred in the last 20 years within the Amazon Basin, suggesting that historic Amazon Shelf sediment and carbon estimates are still valid. The data presented here adds to the growing body of literature that highlights the significance of river-influenced continental margins as sites of organic carbon deposition, remineralization export and sequestration.