Paula Álvarez Iglesias

University of Vigo | UVIGO · Centre for Scientific and Technological Support to Research (CACTI)

This work addresses the study of a sediment core retrieved in the estuary of the Grande-de-Xubia River (Ria of Ferrol), which is among the first industrialized areas in the Iberian Peninsula and has links to the shipbuilding industry since 1750. The chemical analysis of trace elements (i.e. As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mo, Ni, Pb, V, and Zn) was coupled...

Textural, geochemical and geochronological analyses on two gravity and two box cores recovered from the outer and inner sectors of the Ría de Muros allowed reconstructing and timing the anthropogenic imprint on the sedimentary record from this ría. The chronological framework for the last 8 kyr was built based on Pb-210 dating (Constant Rate of Sup...

The Anthropocene has been proposed as a new geo-stratigraphic epoch where humans have become a global factor affecting the ecosystems. Estuarine sediments constitute a biogeochemical reservoir where trace elements (TEs) from natural sources mix with a fraction generated by human activities. This study assessed the natural lithogenic imprint of TEs...

This paper presents the characterization of the sedimentary environment and other sedimentological features of the Transitional Zone of the Galicia continental margin, in the vicinity of the giant pock -mark structure known as the Gran Burato. The area is characterized by marginal platforms and a horst-graben system controlled by NW-SE oriented nor...

A piston core extracted from the Transitional zone in the Galicia continental margin was analyzed using the ItraxTM Core Scanner at the University of Vigo. Geochemical and magnetic susceptibility profiles, combined with grain-size analyses, 14C AMS-dating and scanning electron microscopy observations allowed characterizing the sedimentary environme...

The continental shelf of NW Iberia is of particular interest due to the complex North Atlantic rifting tectonics and modern oceanographic processes that led to its current geomorphological configuration and sediment dynamics. The shelf forms a narrow slow-dipping north-bearing geomorphological structure with a well-defined shelf break located at wa...

The capabilities of X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) core scanners, to acquire high-resolution geochemical data sets in relatively short time, have made them an increasingly popular geochemical screening tool to study sediment cores for palaeoclimatologic and palaeoceanographic purposes (Peck et al., 2007; Rebolledo et al., 2008). These scanners are able t...

Geological guide of the Atlantic Islands of Galicia National Park (Spain), in which the materials as well as the geological and geomorphological processes in the territory of the archipelagos covered by the National Park are described. The most representative geological itineraries of each island are also included. See preview in: https://www.igme....

The prehistoric silver set of Antas de Ulla, north-western Iberia, consists of a central ring from which six chains hang, each chain containing of five irregular spirals of decreasing size. This set has been made from silver with low impurities. The spirals are characterised, in general, by low contents of lead together with volatile and/or easily...

San Simón Bay, the inner part of the Ría de Vigo (NW Spain), an area previously identified as highly polluted by Pb, was selected for the application of Pb stable isotope ratios as a fingerprinting tool in subtidal and intertidal sediment cores. Lead isotopic ratios were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry on extracts from bu...

Radiocarbon is one of the most widespread radionuclides in nature. Although it is probably best known for dating in archaeology, in the case of the general public, it represents a useful tracer to study our environment, both in the past and nowadays. For instance, carbonaceous particles, which are in many cases the most abundant among aerosols cons...

The Ria de Muros is the northernmost of the 4 Rias Baixas and, like the others, is subject to seasonal upwelling. The high organic carbon content of its sediments (average 2.4%) is due to the consequent high primary production together with significant continental input from river discharge and runoff. This high organic carbon content not only favo...

To contribute to establishing a historical baseline for future evaluations of the environmental quality of the Ría de Vigo (NW Spain), we report metal contents determined in eight gravity cores obtained at representative locations in 1990 - before the installation of any wastewater treatment plants - and in fractions thereof that were obtained by t...

Mud ascent as the result of active diapirism and mud volcanoes on the seafloor are common features in the Alboran Sea. It is thought that these have been developed during a compressional tectonic setting that produced folding and wrench tectonics throughout the basin. During the TTR 17 cruise of the R/V Professor Logachev (2008), several new and pr...

Two sediment cores were recovered in San Simón Bay (NW Spain) in order to establish sediment accumulation rates by 210Pb and 137Cs dating and to reconstruct metal pollution history. Sediment composition was determined by X-ray Fluorescence. A main lithogenic origin was shown up. Grain size conditions radionuclide activities and element concentratio...

Two sediment cores (~30 m long) were retrieved at the mouth of the Minho Estuary to assess its palaeoenvironmental evolution for the last millennia. Samples were characterized by Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry and Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis, complemented by sedimentological analyses. Provenance of major and trace el...

Mariculture is an important economic activity in shallow marine areas of the Rías Baixas (Galicia, NW Spain). The maintenance of high product quality requires surveillance of environmental quality, including the risk of metal toxicity. In this study the redox status of intertidal sediments in the Bay of San Simón, and the risk of toxicity posed by...

Four 2-3m sediment cores were taken at the sites on the periphery of mussel raft concentrations in the subtidal zone of the inner Ría de Vigo (Galicia, NW Spain) with a view to evaluate the potential risk to mariculture from sediment-borne trace elements (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn). The distribution of each of these elements in reactive, or...

San Simón Bay is located in the inner part of a Galician ría. Three rivers enter the bay from the north, forming shallow estuaries. Tidal range is mesotidal (2 to 4 m with an average of 2.2 m). High productivity ecosystems develop due to upwelling processes, which are common in all the Galician rías. The aim of this paper is the study of fluvial an...

(210)Pb and (137)Cs dating methods, accompanied by a high-resolution geochemical study, were applied to intertidal sediments containing both fine and coarse-grained particles and also, anthropogenic Pb in order to establish sedimentation rates and historical trends in heavy metal input. Sedimentation rates were established according to the "Constan...

The concentrations of both major and trace elements in San Simón Bay's subtidal sediments were determined for the purposes of (1) eval-uating the influence of anthropogenic activities on metal content (against pre-anthropogenic background values attained via the deepest core samples), (2) establishing the subtidal sediments' degrees of pollution in...

A gamma spectrometer with HPGe detector of 50% relative efficiency and 1 cps total background has been dedicated to the measurement of an intertidal sediment core from a coastal environment at the Ría de Vigo (Spain). The area is affected by lead pollution and the source identification needs of a precise dating of the sediment core. Such a precise...