Análise integrada da morfologia e sedimentologia do baixo curso do rio Xingu

Abstract

The Xingu River is an important tributary of the Amazon River, contributing with 5% of its total water discharge. Nevertheless, it does not contribute substantially with sediment load. The lower reaches of the Xingu River correspond to a Ria, as a result of the Holocene sea-level rise. It is also classified as a tidal river, where tides reach over 1 m at its confluence with the Amazon River. This study evaluated the morphology and sedimentology of the area, correlating it with hydrodynamics, aiming to understand the still ongoing infilling process of the Xingu Ria. The study area encompasses a stretch of about 180 km, from the Xingu-Amazon river confluence upward to the narrowing of the channel, near the city of Vitória do Xingu. During the maximum sediment discharge of the Amazon River (i.e., feb/2016) 109 bottom sediment samples were collected, whereas 11 of the sampling sites were re-sampled during the minimum water discharge period of both rivers (i.e., nov/2016). During the maximum water discharge period of the Amazon River (i.e., jun/2018), additional water level measurements were undertaken simultaneously in several locations along the Xingu River, as it was also performed during the other campaigns. The morphology was evaluated on the basis of the bathymetric surveys of the Brazilian Navy (CLSAOR/DHN), including about 20,000 points. The results showed that the infilling process of the ria lake has taken place from both ‘ends’ of the area- from the Xingu River itself, forming a prominent bay-head delta, as well as from the Xingu-Amazon River confluence, where tides have transported Amazon River sediments upstream into the Xingu Ria. Furthermore, there is a central portion of the ria lake with large cross-sectional areas, reached only by relatively small amounts of sediments, being a quiescent environment within muddy sedimentation. In a transversal perspective, sands seem to prevail along the margins, where local wave action seem to result in bluff erosion. Longitudinally, sands are substantially more frequent at the bay-head delta area, and at the confluence area, where cross-sections are clearly narrower. Results also suggest that the sediment input from the Amazon River into the Xingu ria has reduced over time, whereas the combination of cross-section area variation and the Xingu River water discharge itself reduce the sediment flux from the Amazon River into the Xingu River.