Contaminated sediment loads from ancient mercury ore roasting sites, Idrija area, Slovenia

Gosar, Mateja; Teršič, Tamara

doi:10.1016/j.gexplo.2014.11.012

Cited by 15 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Even though Hg T at the marine boundary is expected to decrease in the future, as a consequence of the mine's closure in 1996, according to Covelli et al, 2012 in the short term, such a decrease is unlikely to occur. Gosar (2008) noted that mercury concentrations in river sediments in the Idrijca and Isonzo-(Soca) Rivers have not decreased over the past 15 years since mining activities have stopped due to the extent of historical discharge still present along the rivers banks. Therefore, we applied a precautionary approach by maintaining existing Hg T input values throughout the whole simulation.…”

Section: The Model Structure and Its Applicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While most particulate Hg deposits are found close to riverbanks, prevailing currents also drive suspended and dissolved materials further south towards the Marano-Grado Lagoon. Currently, average sediment concentrations reach 721 ppm downstream from the mine (Gosar and Ter si c, 2015), 40 ppm at the So ca-Isonzo River mouth (Gosar and Ter si c, 2015), 1 ppm in the central Gulf of Trieste (Faganeli et al, 2014) and 4.4 ppm in the Marano-Grado Lagoon, thus ranging from 0.6 to 10 ppm . Higher levels in the sediment of the Marano-Grado Lagoon compared to those in the open Gulf of Trieste are attributable to the following different processes: 1) the direction of currents; 2) the lagoon as a more confined environment; and 3) the presence of an additional source of contamination.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Long-term scenarios of mercury budgeting and exports for a Mediterranean hot spot (Marano-Grado Lagoon, Adriatic Sea)

Canu

Rosati

2017

Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science

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The Marano-Grado Lagoon (MGL) is extensively contaminated by mercury (Hg) from local sources and long-term (500 years) tidally delivered inputs from the Idrija Hg mine (Slovenia) through Isonzo River suspended loads. A multibox WASP-7 (Water Analysis Simulation Program) model was used to simulate the long-term dynamics of the mercury cycle in the MGL. Scenario simulations were used to compute changes in the system over 100 years. Present and future Hg concentrations in water, sediment, and Hg budgets were compared, including evasion and MeHg inputs to the Mediterranean Sea, based on climate changes and mercury capping in tributary rivers. Using the Ref baseline scenario, the model computes a general decrease in HgT of 13% in the water column and of 80% in sediment and a strong MeHg increase in sediment (+73%). The net sea export of HgT decreases by 77% to up to 48 kg/y while MeHg increases by 10% to up to 0.63 kg/y. The lagoon sediment recovery time of HgT up to a target level of 0.3 mg/kg is computed over 570 years for surface sediments (1750 for subsurface sediments). When removing Hg from boundaries, the same target value for surface sediments is reached within 110 years

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Section: The Model Structure and Its Applicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term scenarios of mercury budgeting and exports for a Mediterranean hot spot (Marano-Grado Lagoon, Adriatic Sea)

Canu

Rosati

2017

Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science

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“…The investigations proved that Hg‐loaded materials are still present at the smelting sites and are being intensively eroded and transported downstream during periods of high water levels. Investigation of the Hg load in the Idrijca River sediments shows that the historic smelting sites still remain an important source of Hg‐contaminated material today and one of the primary concerns for persistent Hg release into the aquatic ecosystem (Gosar & Teršič, ; Teršič et al, ).…”

Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Investigation of the Hg load in the Idrijca River sediments shows that the historic smelting sites still remain an important source of Hg-contaminated material today and one of the primary concerns for persistent Hg release into the aquatic ecosystem (Gosar & Teršič, 2015;Teršič et al, 2014).…”

Section: Idrija Hg Minementioning

confidence: 99%

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Impacts of mining and smelting activities on environment and landscape degradation—Slovenian case studies

et al. 2018

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This paper provides an overview of the physical and chemical landscape changes that have occurred at four reference sites due to historical mining and smelting activities within Slovenia, and their comparison with similar sites around the World. Literature review has been made with the intention to identify major pollutant sources, its dispersion control factors, and effects. The four reference sites are Idrija, with more than 500‐year Hg mining and ore smelting history, the Meža Valley, also with a 500‐year PbZn mining and smelting history, the Celje area where Zn was smelted for 100 years and the Drava River alluvial plain, which is contaminated because of historical PbZn mining upstream. Based on the comparison between the four abovementioned reference sites and similar sites around the world that are situated in different landscapes and climates, we identified major sources of contamination, which are the erosion of mine and ore processing wastes, and atmospheric emissions of metal‐containing particles from smelters. In the first case, major control factors are rainfall pattern and river gradient, controlling erosion and sediment deposition patterns. In the second case, the prevailing control factors are topography and the dominant wind directions.

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Environmental assessment of mining industry solid pollution in the mercurial district of Azzaba, northeast Algeria

Seklaoui

Boutaleb

Benali

et al. 2016

Environ Monit Assess

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To date, there have been few detailed studies regarding the impact of mining and metallogenic activities on solid fractions in the Azzaba mercurial district (northeast Algeria) despite its importance and global similarity with large Hg mines. To assess the degree, distribution, and sources of pollution, a physical inventory of apparent pollution was developed, and several samples of mining waste, process waste, sediment, and soil were collected on regional and local scales to determine the concentration of Hg and other metals according to their existing mineralogical association. Several physico-chemical parameters that are known to influence the pollution distribution are realized. The extremely high concentrations of all metals exceed all norms and predominantly characterize the metallurgic and mining areas; the metal concentrations significantly decrease at significant low distances from these sources. The geo-accumulation index, which is the most realistic assessment method, demonstrates that soils and sediments near waste dumps and abandoned Hg mines are extremely polluted by all analyzed metals. The pollution by these metals decreases significantly with distance, which indicates a limited dispersion. The results of a clustering analysis and an integrated pollution index suggest that waste dumps, which are composed of calcine and condensation wastes, are the main source of pollution. Correlations and principal component analysis reveal the important role of hosting carbonate rocks in limiting pollution and differentiating calcine wastes from condensation waste, which has an extremely high Hg concentration (˃1 %).

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Contaminated sediment loads from ancient mercury ore roasting sites, Idrija area, Slovenia

Cited by 15 publications

References 23 publications

Long-term scenarios of mercury budgeting and exports for a Mediterranean hot spot (Marano-Grado Lagoon, Adriatic Sea)

Long-term scenarios of mercury budgeting and exports for a Mediterranean hot spot (Marano-Grado Lagoon, Adriatic Sea)

Impacts of mining and smelting activities on environment and landscape degradation—Slovenian case studies

Environmental assessment of mining industry solid pollution in the mercurial district of Azzaba, northeast Algeria

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