Avalição da contribuição mineralógica dos rios Cuacua e Licuar no estuário dos Bons Sinais- Quelimane, Zambézia

Abstract

This research was carried out on sediment samples from the Cuacua and Licuar rivers, with the purpose of Evaluating the Mineralogical Contribution of the Cuacua and Licuar Rivers in the Estuary of the Bons Sinais - Quelimane, This research was carried out on sediment samples from the Cuacua and Licuar rivers, with the purpose of Evaluating the Mineralogical Contribution of the Cuacua and Licuar Rivers in the Estuary of the Bons Sinais - Quelimane, Zambézia. Therefore, to make possible this research it was necessary to collect 6 sediment samples from the bottom of each river using a bottom sampler. After the harvest the samples were submitted to sedimentological treatments, from chemical attacks in order to eliminate impurities contained in them and subsequent mineralogical analyzes through the X-ray diffractometer. It was possible to identify the phases of minerals and to quantify their crystalline concentrations in the samples, and the minerals identified in the two rivers make a set of 9 types of minerals namely, albite, quartz, illite, topaz, muscovite, zeolite, apatite and monazite. However, the albite mineral that represents the alkanine fedspatos is a type of mineral with greater predominance of the two rivers, occurs in higher concentrations reaching a maximum of 82%, followed by quartz with its maximum value of 31%, illite with 40%, topaz70%, muscovite 25%, zeolite 13%, apatite 5% and monazite1%. Although the mineral quartz presents with smaller concentrations in relation to other minerals, this in turn is more repetitive in the samples comparing it with these, showing its predominance. The irregular occurrence of quartz dominance is possibly related to the granulometry of the mineral phases with which it is associated. The dominant albite, reflecting its resistance to the intemperic agents, since this occurs with very fine crystals which confers it resistance to chemical and physical attacks.