Applicability of fingerprinting for identification of sediment sources in a mesoscale semiarid catchment

Abstract

The study aimed at identifying sediment sources in a mesoscale catchment (933 km2) located in the Brazilian semiarid region. The research explored the potential of using a fingerprinting technique to verify the origin of eroded sediments in a catchment by comparing physical and mineralogical properties of potential sediment sources and sediments deposited in a pond (6 × 103 m3 storage capacity) and a reservoir (20 × 106 m3 storage capacity). The goal was to assess the feasibility of using such material to identify sediment sources in a semiarid environment with a high density of surface reservoirs. Chemical variables were studied by mineralogical analysis using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and multivariate statistics. The results showed that the fingerprinting technique is a potential tool to identify sediment sources comparing the properties of soils with silted material in reservoirs, allowing its use even in regions with low frequency of runoff.