Cluster analysis and geochemical processes for the characterization of the aquifer system in Maracanã/São Luis/MA

ABSTRACT To better know the aquifer system in the Maracanã Environmental Protection Area were collected samples in four campaigns; the first during the drought season and the others in the following rainy one. The water samples were analised for eleven hydrochemical parameters, CE, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, Cl-, SO42-, HCO3-, NO3-, Fe and P. Cluster analysis separated the wells in the area, identifing three different groups that exploit water with electrical conductivity in the ranges of 230 to 400 μS/cm, 87 to 210 μS/cm, and 22 to 64 μS/cm, respectively. Data show a predominance of sodium chlorinated water. With these results and identification of geochemical processes determined by changes in concentrations of Fe and P it was possible to develop a model that identifies the aquifer of the aquifer system exploited by each well.