A GIS based interdisciplinary analysis of Río Quequén Grande watershed in Argentina

The Río Quequén Grande watershed covers an area of about 9.940 km2 Argentina. The region is characterized by intense agricultural activities and it is part of one of the most productive plain in the world. Due to the intensive farming practices a diffuse pollution on the aquatic systems can be identified. Three main vectors that impact the ecological status of water bodies need to be investigated: variation in water quantity, variation in water quality and geomorphology alteration. In this frame, the integration of all the available data, coupled with specific data from appropriate monitoring campaigns is proposed. Particularly, a GIS is developed and an interdisciplinary approach is implemented for mapping water bodies geochemical features and the interactions with the geomorphological context. The watershed is characterized trough a DEM, geomorphological, sedimentological, hydrological and hydraulic data, integrated with biological monitoring data for water quality assessment. The aim of the research is to integrate abiotic and biotic data together with all the available information, to identify natural and anthropogenic spatial heterogeneity and ecological status of the watershed. From source to mouth, textural, chemical and petrographical river bed sediments data and water chemical parameters of the main hydrographic network are monitored and analyzed. Geochemical analyses are obtained by an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer, ARL Advant'X series. The integrated GIS-based modeling cascade from catchment and reaches to aquatic habitat is the broad result of the research. The spatial analyses carried out on the available distributed data integrated with the monitoring on site data lead specific results that are recorded in the integrated informative system. The GIS based system can be used for the watershed assessment and to develop spatially distributed mitigation strategies for a sustainable growth environment respectful