THE GEOCHEMICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL ASPECTS OF AREAS AFFECTED BY THE DEPOSIT OF URBAN WASTE IN PALMAS – PARANÁ

Abstract

Domestic waste from human daily activities has been suffering a direct influence of the increasing population, the intensity of industrialization and the change in the consumers habits, sometimes with harmful consequences for the environment. In Palmas, estate of Paraná, the domestic waste has been accumulated in an uncontrolled surface deposit for about ten years, at the Hydrographic micro-basin of the Passa Três River, on effusive acid rocks of the Serra Geral formation (Mesozoic of the Paraná basin). Such area is about to be closed for environmental recovery due to the serious social and environmental problems it has created. Aiming at evaluating the impact caused by the waste on the water quality, geophysical investigation by means of electrical profiling and nearby surface water monitoring was carried out. This was performed through analysis of physical, chemical and bacteriological variables, along two different periods, a rainy and a dry season. The influence of the superficial flow on the surface water quality where evidenced. However, the concentration of contaminants is restricted to the micro-basin which hosts the waste deposit, without a significant influence on the water of the Passa Três River. Resistivity sections evidence conductive zones which may reflect the contaminants, changing the salinity and consequently degrading the groundwater quality.