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Assessing the environmental impacts of engineering and agrochemical pollution in a historically-eutrophic estuary: The Mondego case (W Portugal)
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Researchers used a multiproxy sedimentary analysis combining biotic, geochemical, sedimentological, and radionuclide data to assess cumulative anthropogenic impacts on the Mondego Estuary in western Portugal, finding that upstream channel closure triggered rapid continentalization and altered hydrosedimentary dynamics.
The Mondego Estuary (W Portugal) experienced a process of eutrophication in the late 20th century, making it one of the most impacted systems in southern Europe. To examine its recent environmental evolution, sedimentary records were analyzed from a multiproxy approach, involving biotic, sedimentological, geochemical, physical, and radionuclide data. Results evidenced the transformation of the estuary due to anthropogenic cumulative impacts. The closure of the upstream branch triggered rapid 'continentalization' in the southern arm, altering the hydrosedimentary regime and favoring eutrophication. However, the middle and lower sectors exhibited stronger marine influences. Foraminiferal biota responded effectively to management interventions to improve hydrodynamics, while showing no discernible ecotoxicological responses to agricultural discharges. Pesticide accumulations patterns are shaped by natural and anthropogenic factors, with strong agrochemical fingerprints in the upper and lower sectors. The topmost 20-cm layer of sediments contain high pesticide concentrations and microplastics, posing challenges for future management and pollutant mitigation.
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Modern conditions and recent environmental evolution of the industrialized inner Ría of Ferrol (Galicia, NW Spain)
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Researchers used multiple environmental indicators, including microplastics, trace metals, and sediment analysis, to characterize the recent environmental evolution of the industrialized inner Ria of Ferrol in northwestern Spain. The study found that while natural estuarine dynamics largely drive the ecosystem, industrial activities since the mid-20th century have left detectable signatures in the sediment record, and microplastics were identified as emerging contaminants in the area.
The effect of agricultural intensification and water-locking on the world's largest coastal lagoonal system
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Palaeolimnological reconstruction of Mirim Lagoon in southern Brazil revealed that estuarine water-locking for agriculture in the 20th century triggered eutrophication and increased sedimentation rates, with subsequent intensification of rice and soybean production causing major shifts in organic matter isotopic composition while trace metal concentrations remained near natural background levels.
Recent environmental and morphosedimentary evolution of the mining-impacted Nalón Estuary (Asturias, N Spain): Disentangling natural and anthropogenic processes
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Researchers studied a mining-impacted estuary in northern Spain to separate the effects of natural processes like flooding from human activities like coal and mercury mining. They found that both natural events and mining waste caused significant changes to sediment buildup and erosion, with microplastics serving as one of several indicators used to track how the estuary has changed over the past century.
Assessing Human Impact on Estuarine Environments: From Microplastic Detection to Foraminiferal Response
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This multidisciplinary study examined anthropogenic impacts on the Entella Stream estuary in Italy using sedimentological, chemical, and micropaleontological analyses of sediment cores. Microplastics, heavy metals, and foraminifera assemblage shifts all recorded increasing human pressure over recent decades.
Exposing estuarine regions as microplastic traps: modeling transport pathways and accumulation hotspots in the Minho Estuary (Portugal-Spain)
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Researchers combined field sampling with a Lagrangian particle tracking model in the Minho Estuary to map how river discharge and tidal cycles control microplastic transport, identifying persistent accumulation hotspots and determining the conditions under which the estuary shifts between acting as a source versus a sink for ocean-bound microplastics.
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