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Disseminating Soil Alterations Using Geoportal on Natural Phenomena: The Case of Cotopaxi-Ecuador Volcano

Abstract:

The Cotopaxi Volcano is one of the most active stratovolcanoes in the world. It is located in the center of Ecuador, surrounded by densely populated cities as Latacunga, Machachi, or Sangoquí, in which the agricultural sector is very important for economic development. Ash emissions and phreatomagmatic eruptions characterized the eruptive process of Cotopaxi volcano in august 2015. A mineralogical study of the ashes showed the presence of heavy metals, which could have been transferred to the soil and could affect agricultural and livestock activities. To evaluate the relationship between the concentrations of Cd, Cu, Pb, Hg, Cr, Co, Ni, Zn and as between the soil, ash and the comparison with local regulations, three farms (Altamira farm, San Ramon farm and La Laguna farm) in the Canton of Mejía were defined as the study area. In those locations, the soil samples were georeferenced with a handheld GPS. The analysis was carried out before acid digestion (EPA 3050B1 method) in an ICP-OES and AMA 254 atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The metals analyzed were kept within limits defined in TULSMA Book VI: Annex 2 Soil Resource local regulations. In order to improve the visibility of the study, the presentation of the results was carried out in an open-access geoportal implemented in proprietary software. This geoportal allows the dynamic and interactive visualization of the different concentrations of heavy metals in their corresponding location.