Revista de Gestão Costeira Integrada
Volume 22, Issue 4, December 2022, Pages 285-297

DOI: 10.5894/rgci-n519
* Submission: 4 AGO 2022; Peer review: 20 SEP 2022; Revised: 16 MAR 2023; Accepted: 16 MAR 2023; Available on-line: 2 MAY 2023

Environmental assessment of pre-dredging sediments and proposals for their subsequent management in the port of Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina

G.V. Cuello^{@ 1,2,3}, P.A. Garzo^1,2,3, R. Elias¹, F.I. Isla^1,2,3

---

@ Corresponding author: [email protected]
¹ Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMYC – UNMDP/CONICET), Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
² Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Argentina.
³ Instituto de Geología de Costas y del Cuaternario (IGCC – UNMDP/CIC), Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

---

ASBTRACT
Nowadays, the discharge of sediments from dredging works into the sea is one of the most critical problems affecting coastal management. Therefore, the characterization, assessment and handling of the materials to be dredged is of utmost importance. Since its creation, the Port of Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina, has presented a structural difficulty that affects its operation: the interruption of the strong littoral drift by its breakwaters generates an important sand sedimentation, blocking the access channel. This hampers the entry and maneuverability of large ships, while promoting sediment imbalances on a regional scale, causing coastal erosion on many beaches. At present, the administrative authorities of the port are proposing a new dredging work in order to restore adequate navigation depths. On this basis, the aim of this work was to assess the current sediment characteristics of the Port of Mar del Plata and compare it with previous results from 1996. Grain size, water content and organic matter were monitored at 12 stations. The results indicate that the external sector receives a larger share of sand than in 1996; silts and clays are preferentially deposited at the inner docks; organic matter, with increases compared to the previous study, accumulates in the inner docks with lower water renewal and higher contributions of waste-water. Based on these results, this work proposes beach nourishment as a management alternative for dredged sediments. Several urban beaches of Mar del Plata subject to regional-scale erosive processes could be the target sites. It is expected that this study will be used as a baseline for the improvement of the environmental quality of the port system as well as for pre- and post-dredging studies within the framework of an integrated coastal zone management.

Keywords: dredged material; particle settling; beach erosion; multivariate analysis; dumping zone.

RESUMO
Nos dias de hoje a descarga no mar de sedimentos provenientes de obras de dragagem, é um dos problemas mais críticos que afetam a gestão costeira local. Assim, a caracterização, avaliação e manuseamento dos materiais a dragar é de extrema importância. Desde a sua criação, o Porto de Mar del Plata, em Buenos Aires, Argentina, têm apresentado uma dificuldade estrutural no que respeita ao seu funcionamento: nomeadamente a forte interrupção da deriva litoral pelos seus quebra-mares, acarretando sedimentação significativa local de areia e bloqueando o canal de acesso. A atual configuração dificulta a entrada e a manobrabilidade de navios de grande calado, enquanto incute desequilíbrios sedimentares à escala regional, proporcionando erosão costeira em praias adjacentes. Atualmente, as autoridades administrativas do porto equacionam uma nova operação de dragagem para restabelecer profundidades de navegação adequadas.
O objectivo do corrente estudo foi o de avaliar as características actuais dos sedimentos do Porto de Mar del Plata e compará-las com características anteriores a 1996. Monitorizou-se o tamanho dos grãos, o teor de água e a matéria orgânica, em 12 estações. Os resultados indicam que o sector exterior recebe atualmente maior percentagem de areia do que em 1996; os siltes e argilas são preferencialmente depositados nas docas interiores; a matéria orgânica, registando aumento em conteúdo, em relação ao período de estudo anterior, acumula-se nas docas interiores com menor renovação de água e observando contribuições de águas residuais mais elevadas.
Com base nos resultados obtido, e alternativamente, este estudo propõe que se utilizem os sedimentos provenientes das dragagens em alimentação de praias. Várias praias urbanas de Mar del Plata sujeitas a processos erosivos de escala regional poderiam ser os locais de deposição dos dragados. Espera-se que este estudo seja utilizado como base de referência para a melhoria da qualidade ambiental do sistema portuário, bem como para suportar outros estudos de pré e pós-dragagem no âmbito de uma gestão integrada da zona costeira.

 

AITCHISON, J. (1992). On criteria for measures of compositional difference. Mathematical Geology 24: 365-379.

AITCHISON, J., BARCELÓ-VIDAL, C., MARTÍN-FERNÁNDEZ, J.A. & PAWLOWSKY-GLAHN, V. (2000). Logratio analysis and compositional distance. Mathematical Geology 32: 563-580.

BÉRTOLA, G. R. (2001). 21 Years of Morphological Modifications in an Urbanized Beach (Playa Grande, Mar de Plata), Argentina. Thalassas: An international journal of marine sciences, 17(2), 21-36 BIRCH, G., & TAYLOR, S. (1999). Source of heavy metals in sediments of the Port Jackson estuary, Australia. Science of the Total Environment, 227(2-3), 123-138.

BOLAM, S. G. & REES, H. L., (2003). Minimizing impacts of maintenance dredged material disposal in the coastal environment: A habitat approach. Environmental Management 32, 2, 171-188.

BUNICONTRO, M. P., MARCOMINI, S. C., & LÓPEZ, R. A. (2013). Zonificación de la erosión costera en la localidad de Santa Clara del Mar, provincia de Buenos Aires. Revista de Geología Aplicada a la Ingeniería y al Ambiente, (31); 1-15.

BUNICONTRO, M. P., MARCOMINI, S. C., & LÓPEZ, R. A. (2015). The effect of coastal defense structures (mounds) on the southeast coast of Buenos Aires province, Argentina. Ocean & Coastal Management, 116: 404-413.

CÁCERES, R. A., & CASTELLANO, R. D., (2012). Dinámica litoral en el entorno de la escollera sur del Puerto de Mar del Plata. VII Congreso Argentino de Ingeniería Portuaria, 16.

CAPELLO, M., CUTRONEO, L., CASTELLANO, M., ORSI, M., PIERACCI, A., BERTOLOTTO, R. & TUCCI, S. (2010). Physical and sedimentological characterisation of dredged sediments. Chemistry and Ecology, 26(S1), 359-369.

CAPLAT, C., TEXIER, H., BARILLIER, D., & LELIEVRE, C. (2005). Heavy metals mobility in harbor contaminated sediments: the case of Port-en-Bessin. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 50(5), 504-511.

CASADO-MARTÍNEZ, M. C., FORJA, J. M., & DELVALLS, T. A. (2009). A multivariate assessment of sediment contamination in dredged materials from Spanish ports. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 163(2-3), 1353-1359.

CAVIGLIA F.J., J.L. POUSA & N.W. LANFREDI, (1992). Transporte de Sedimentos: una alternativa de cálculo. II Congreso de Ciencias de la Tierra, Chile, 413-422.

CESAR, A., LIA, L. R. B., PEREIRA, C. D. S., SANTOS, A. R., CORTEZ, F. S., CHOUERI, R. B., & RACHID, B. R. F. (2014). Environmental assessment of dredged sediment in the major Latin American seaport (Santos, São Paulo—Brazil): An integrated approach. Science of the Total Environment, 497, 679-687.

CHIN, J. L. & OTA, A., (2000). Disposal of dredged material and other waste on the Continental Shelf and Slope. USGS, Report, 193-206.

CICALESE, G. (1997). Gestión provincial portuaria: privatización y conflicto de intereses con el gobierno local. El caso del puerto de la ciudad de Mar del Plata, 1994. Revista Comunicaciones, 4(34), 4-14.

CORTELEZZI, C. R., CAZENEUVE, H., LEVIN, M., & MOUZO, F. (1971). Estudio del movimiento de sedimentos en la zona del puerto de Mar del Plata mediante el uso de radioisótopos. En: Anales LEMIT. Laboratorio de Entrenamiento Multidisciplinario para la Investigación Tecnológica (LEMIT). pp D’ALESSANDRO, M., PORPORATO, E. M., ESPOSITO, V., GIACOBBE, S., DEIDUN, A., NASI, F. & ROMEO, T. (2020). Common patterns of functional and biotic indices in response to multiple stressors in marine harbors ecosystems. Environmental Pollution, 259, 113959.

DAUVIN, J. C., BAUX, N., & LESOURD, S. (2022). Benthic impact assessment of a dredge sediment disposal in a dynamic resilient environment. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 179, 113668.

DAVIES, C.A., TOMLINSON, K. & STEPHENSON, T. (1991). Heavy metals in River tee estuary sediments. Environ. Technol. 12 961 - 972.

DE BOER, S., DE JORGE, A. M., BROUWER, H., EVERSDYK, P. J., EVERTSE, M. & SLUIJS, W. J. H., (1997). Port and coastal study Mar del Plata. Report WB1062-4-96045, Rijkswaterstaat, 127.

DE VINCENZO, A., COVELLI, C., MOLINO, A. J., PANNONE, M., CICCAGLIONE, M., & MOLINO, B. (2018). Long-term management policies of reservoirs: Possible re-use of dredged sediments for coastal nourishment. Water, 11(1), 15.

DOUGLAS, G.B. & ADENEY, J.A., (2000). Diagenetic cycling of trace elements in the bottom sediments of the Swan River Estuary, Western Australia. Applied Geochemistry 15, 551–566.

DU FOUR, I., & VAN LANCKER, V., (2008). Changes of sedimentological patterns and morphological features due to the disposal of dredge spoil and the regeneration after cessation of the disposal activities. Marine Geology 255, 15-29.

FANG, L.S., CHOU, W.R. & DONG, C.D., (2013). How does marine benthic ecology is influenced by dredged sediments disposal? In: Proceedings of the 35th Ocean Engineering Conference in Taiwan. National Sun Yat-sen University, p. D6. November 2013.

FOLK, R.L. (1974). Petrology of Sedimentary Rocks. Hemphill Publishing Company, Austin, Texas. 182.

GARCÍA, M.C. & VENEZIANO, M.F. (2015). Análisis FPEIR sobre rompeolas y playas regeneradas en el sur de Gral. Pueyrredón, R. Argentina. Contribuciones Científicas 27; 93-108.

GUALDONI, P., & ERRAZTI, E. (2006). El puerto de Mar del Plata. Revista FACES, 12(26), 67-83.

GYSSELS, P., RAGESSI. M., RODRÍGUEZ, A., CARDINI, J.,& CAMPOS, M. (2013). Diseño de infraestructura para la protección de la erosión costera en el litoral argentino: Caso de Mar del Plata. Rev. Int. de Desastres Naturales, Accidentes e Infraestructura Civil. Vol. 13(2), 221.

GODOY, C. E., ISLA, F., & ELÍAS, R. (2011). Macroinfaunal distribution at an organic-enriched estuarine harbour: Quequén Grande River Inlet, Argentina. Gravel, 9(1), 57-67.

HAMMER, O., HARPER, D.A.T. & RYAN, P.D. (2001). PAST: Paleontological statistics software package for education and data analysis. Palaeontologia Electronica 4(1): 9pp. http://palaeo-electronica.org/2001_1/past/issue1_01.htm HEIRI, O., LOTTER, A.F. & LEMCKE, G., (2001), Loss of ignition as a method for estimating organic and carbonate content in sediments: reproducibility and comparability of results: J. Paleolimnol., v. 25, pp. 101–110, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A: ISLA, F. I., & SCHNACK, E. J. (1986). Repoblamiento artificial de playas. Sus posibilidades de aplicación en la costa marplatense. Asoc. Arg. Geol. Aplicada a la Ing., III, 202-217.

ISLA, F. I., (2001). Geología del Sudeste de Buenos Aires. En Boschi, E. (ed.) Entre Mareas. Mar del Plata, INIDEP, Capítulo 1, 19-28.

ISLA, F.; DENEGRI, G., CERMELO, L., FARIAS, A. & CROWDER, P. (2005). Mar del Plata fragilidad costera. Editorial Martin. Mar del Plata, Argentina. 168 pp

ISLA, F.I., (2006). Erosión y defensa costeras. En: Isla, F.I and Lasta, C.A. (eds.), Manual de Manejo costero para la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Mar del Plata, Argentina: EUDEM, 125–147.

ISLA, F. I., (2010). Natural and artificial reefs at Mar del Plata, Argentina. Journal of Integrated Coastal Management, 10, 1, 81-93.

ISLA, F. I., (2015). Variaciones espaciales y temporales de la deriva litoral, SE de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Revista Geográfica del Sur, 5, 8, 24-41.

ISLA, F., TAGLIORETTI, M., & DONDAS, A. (2015). Revisión y nuevos aportes sobre la estratigrafía y sedimentología de los acantilados entre Mar de Cobo y Miramar, provincia de Buenos Aires. Revista de la Asociación Geológica Argentina, 72(2): 235-250.

ISLA, F. I., CORTIZO, L., MERLOTTO, A., BÉRTOLA, G., ALBISETTI, M. P., & FINOCCHIETTI, C. (2018). Erosion in Buenos Aires province: Coastal-management policy revisited. Ocean & Coastal Management, 156:107-116.

JAMES, W.R. (1975). Manual on artificial beach nourishment. Research codes and specifications. Rijkswaterstaat Delft Hydraulics Laboratory. Centre for Civil Engineering, 130-195 pp.

JOLLIFFE, I.T., (2002). Mathematical and statistical properties of population principal components, chapter 2. En: P. Bickel, P. Diggle, S. Fienberg, K Krickeberg, I. Olkin, N. Wermuth, Y S. Zeger (eds.), Principal Component Analysis, Second Edition: Springer-Verlag Nueva York, NY. pp. 10–28.

KARL, H. A., CHIN, J. L., UEBER, E., STAUFFER, P. H.,& HENDLEY, J. W., (2001). Beyond the Golden Gate. Oceanography, Geology, Biology, and Environmental Issues in the Gulf of the Farallones. USGS Circular 1198, 78 pp LAGRANGE, A. (1993). Mar, playas y puerto. Ed. Fundación Bolsa de Comercio. Mar del Plata, Argentina. 551 pp.

LANFREDI, N., W, POUSA, J.L MAZIO C.A, & DRAGANI W.C. (1992). Wave power potential along the coast of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Energy 17, 997-1006

LASTA, C. A., RUARTE, C. O., & CAROZZA, C. R. (2001). Flota costera argentina: antecedentes y situación actual.

LEE, D. I., EOM, K. H., KIM, G. Y., & BAECK, G. W. (2010). Scoping the effective marine environmental assessment of dredging and ocean disposal of coastal sediments in Korea. Marine Policy, 34(5), 1082-1092.

LEGENDRE, P. & BIRKS, H.J.B., (2012). From classical to canonical ordination. In: Birks, H.J.B., et al. (Eds.), Tracking Environmental Change Using Lake Sediments, Developments in Paleoenviromental Research 5:pp. 201-248.

MARCOMINI, S.C. Y LÓPEZ, R.A., (2004). Evolution of a beach nourishment project at Mar del Plata. J. Coast. Res. SI 39, 834-837.

MARCOMINI, S. C., & LÓPEZ, R. A. (2006). Geomorfología costera y explotación de arena de playa en la provincia de Buenos Aires y sus consecuencias ambientales. Revista Brasileira de geomorfologia, 7(2), 61-71.

MARTÍN-FERNÁNDEZ, J.A., BARCELÓ-VIDAL, C. & PAWLOWSKY-GLAHN, V. (1998). Measures of Difference for Compositional Data and Hierarchical Clustering Methods. En: Buccianti, A., Nardi, G. y Potenza, R., Naples (eds.) Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Conference of the International Association for Mathematical Geology 1: 526-531.

MERLOTTO, A., & BÉRTOLA, G. R. (2007). Consecuencias socio-económicas asociadas a la erosión costera en el Balneario Parque Mar Chiquita, Argentina. Investigaciones GEOGRÁFICAS, 2007, Nº 43, P. 143-160.

MICCIO, M., & VELLENICH, J. B. (2002). Diagnóstico y perspectivas turísticas del puerto de Mar del Plata. En: V Jornadas Nacionales de Investigación-Acción en Turismo y VIII Jornadas de Interacción.

MITAS, L., & MITASOVA, H. (1999). Spatial interpolation. Geographical information systems: principles, techniques, management and applications, 1(2).

Mojica, M., Lamarchina, S., Anfuso, G., & Isla, F. (2022). Repoblamiento de playas del sur de Mar del Plata (Argentina). Latin American Journal of Sedimentology and Basin Analysis, 29(1), 23-41.

MUNIZ, P., VENTURINI, N., MARTINS, C. C., MUNSHI, A. B., GARCÍA-RODRÍGUEZ, F., BRUGNOLI, E., & GARCÍA-ALONSO, J. (2015). Integrated assessment of contaminants and monitoring of an urbanized temperate harbour (Montevideo, Uruguay): a 12-year comparison. Brazilian Journal of Oceanography, 63, 311-330.

MYMRIN, V., STELLA, J. C., SCREMIM, C. B., PAN, R. C., SANCHES, F. G., ALEKSEEV, K.,PEDROSO, D. E.,MOLINETTI, A. & FORTINI, O. M. (2017). Utilization of sediments dredged from marine ports as a principal component of composite material. Journal of Cleaner Production, 142, 4041-4049.

PADILLA, N. A., & ERASO, M. M. (2012). Conflictos en el manejo de los recursos costeros a partir de cambios en el uso del suelo de la Escollera Norte, Puerto de Mar del Plata. En: Eraso, M.M. (Ed.), Gestores costeros II: experiencias en áreas litorales de la provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina, Mar del Plata: Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, 99-113.

PALANQUES, A., GUILLÉN, J., PUIG, P., & DURÁN, R. (2022). Effects of long-lasting massive dumping of dredged material on bottom sediment and water turbidity during port expansion works. Ocean & Coastal Management, 223, 106113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2022.106113 PONTRELLI-ALBISETTI, M., LAZAROW, N., GARCÍA, M., ISLA, F. & PICCOLO, M. C. (2015). Análisis comparativo entre el Puerto de Mar del Plata, Argentina y el Río Tweed, Australia. Técnicas de bypass como estrategia para superar la obstrucción de la deriva litoral. Revista Geográfica del Sur, 5, 8, 42-58.

PUJOL, M. G., (2014). Ecología del caballito de mar Hippocampus patagonicus (Piacentino and Luzzatto, 2004) en las costas de Mar del Plata y su relación con ambientes impactados antrópicamente. Unpubl. Thesis University of Mar del Plata, Mar del Plata, 284 pp.

QGIS (2022). QGIS Geographic Information System. QGIS Association. http://www.qgis.org

R CORE TEAM (2021). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. URL https://www.R-project.org/.

RIVERO, M.S., E.A. VALLARINO & R. ELÍAS, (2005). First survey in the Mar del Plata Harbor (Argentina, 38º 02´ S, 57º 30´ W), and the use of Polychaetes as potential indicators of pollution. Revista de Biología Marina y Oceanografía 40 (2) (Valparaiso, Chile): 101-108.

RODRIGUEZ, D. & BASTIDA, R., (1998). Four hundred years in the history of pinniped colonies around Mar del Plata, Argentina. Aquatic Conserv. Mar. Freshw. Ecosyst. 8: 721–735.

SAN MARTIN, L., BUNICONTRO, M. P., MARCOMINI, S. C., & LÓPEZ, R. A. (2014). El efecto de las estructuras de defensa costera en las localidades de Mar Chiquita y Mar de Cobo, provincia de Buenos Aires. Revista de Geología Aplicada a la Ingeniería y al Ambiente, (33); 13-23.

SANY, S. B. T., SALLEH, A., SULAIMAN, A. H., SASEKUMAR, A., REZAYI, M., & TEHRANI, G. M. (2013). Heavy metal contamination in water and sediment of the Port Klang coastal area, Selangor, Malaysia. Environmental earth sciences, 69(6).

SHEEHAN, C. & HARRINGTON, J., (2012). Management of dredge material in the Republic of Ireland. A review. Waste Management 32, 1031-1044.

SUNRISE TECHNICAL CONSULTANTS. (1971). Estudio mediante ensayo hidráulico sobre el modelo del Puerto de Mar del Plata y sus alrededores. Harmi, Chou-Ku, Tokyo, Japón, Vol. 7.

VAN REEUWIJK, L. P. (2003). Procedimientos para análisis de suelos. Trad. al español por MC Gutiérrez Castorena, CA Tavares E. y CA Ortiz Solorio. Colegio de Postgraduados. Montecillo, Estado de México.

VAN RIJN, L.C (2008). Coastal erosion problems in Mar del Plata, Argentina. Report of site visit and discussion of solutions. Report 2. Deltares, 31 pp

VENTURINI N MUNIZ P & M RODRÍGUEZ (2004) Macrobenthic subtidal communities in relation to sediment pollution: the phylum-level meta-analysis approach in a south-eastern coastal region of South America. Marine Biology 144:119-126 VILLEMUR, J. P. (1988). La pesca marítima y su problemática. Fundación Argentina de Estudios Marítimos. Buenos Aires, 171.

VALVERDE ENCISO, Y. (2018). Puertos sustentables. Universidad Mayor, Santiago de Chile. 206 pp.

YEBRA, D. M., KIIL, S. & DAM-JOHANSEN, K. (2004). Antifouling technology – past, present and future steps towards 525 efficient and environmentally friendly antifouling coatings. Progress in Organic Coatings, 50(2), 75-104.

YURKIEVICH, G. J. (2013). Pesca y puerto en la ciudad de Mar del Plata: Relaciones íntimas entre una actividad económica transformada y un espacio deteriorado. Estudios Socioterritoriales, 14, 0-0.

ZOUMIS, T., SCHMIDT, A., GRIGOROVA, L. & CALMANO, W., (2001). Contaminants in sediments: remobilisation and demobilization. The Science of the Total Environment 266, 195–202.

 

em constru��o