Applied Methodological Approach for the Assessment of Soil Contamination by Trace Elements around Abandoned Coal Mines—A Case Study of the Jerada Coal Mine, Morocco

Abstract

Previously conducted studies have established that soil contamination by trace elements (TEs) around coal mines affects ecological biodiversity and human health. One of the ways to protect the health of the surrounding population of coal mine sites is through the assessment of contamination impacts by accurate procedures for the establishment of relevant reclamation plan. The aim of the study is to develop an applied methodological approach to easily assess and quantify the impact of coal mining on the surrounding soils. To achieve this goal, a set of relevant geochemical indexes (enrichment factor—EF, geochemical background—GB, and geoaccumulation index—Igeo) and a geostatistical interpolation for mapping soil contamination were applied. It is experimentally established that the process of combining these techniques can be of great interest in highlighting the anomalous areas and revealing the contamination sources. A case study has been carried out on of the abandoned coal Jerada mine site in Morocco. Soils and coal mine waste rocks (CMWR) samples were collected from this site. Soil and CMWR samples were analyzed for their geochemical content. CMWRs were characterized further for their mineralogical composition and environmental behavior. Based on the EF, three TEs (As, Pb, and Zn) were targeted. The results of GB and Igeo calculations have established an evident relationship between the CMWR dump and the occurred soil contamination. TEs distribution pattern has been revealed using the obtained geochemical maps. The developed methodological approach may be in high demand when assessing soil contamination in most of abandoned coal mine sites around the word.

Element Cycling at Thermally Active Coal-Waste Dumps: A Case Study of Calamagrostis epigejos and Solidago canadensis

“…Environmental problems are most often caused by facilities built in the previous century, at a time when less attention was paid to environmental issues. Numerous studies from around the world have shown the negative impact of mining waste on the environment through the distribution of microelements in soil and groundwater [14,15].…”

“…The enrichment factor is used to assess the degree of anthropogenic influence on ecosystems. The results determine five classes: deficiency to minimal enrichment (<2), moderate enrichment (2-5), significant enrichment (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20), very high enrichment , and extremely high enrichment (>40). • Translocation factor (TF): TF = C n R n , where C n is the element content in the aboveground parts of the plant, and B n is the concentration of the same element in the roots [58,59].…”

Features of Degassing from Overburden Rock Massifs: A Case Study Using Radon

“…The amount of overburden is increasing. Various researchers are attempting to solve this problem using these breeds in the economy [10][11][12].…”

Cement Stabilization of Waste from Contaminated Soils in Terms of Its Installation into Engineered Landfill

“…It must be underlined that methods of soil/tailing stabilization are subject to current development and valuable contributions concerning both sources of contamination and protective measures are being published worldwide [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21].…”