Controls on As, Pb, and Mn distribution in community soils of an historical mining district, southwestern Colorado

Hudson, Travis; Borden, John; Russ, Mary E.; Bergstrom, Paul D.

doi:10.1007/s002540050222

Cited by 13 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 4 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Arsenic may be present at the weight per cent level in ore, waste, slag and tailings materials resulting from the mining of various base‐metal, gold and tin ores. Whereas arsenic‐contaminated mine sites have been the subject of detailed investigations overseas ( Peterson et al 1979 ; Davis et al 1992 ; Azcue & Nriagu 1995; Azcue et al 1995 ; Williams et al 1996 ; Hudson et al 1997 ; Bech et al 1997 ; Foster et al 1998 ; Nesbitt & Muir 1998), there is no information available on either the environmental impact or the biogeochemistry of arsenic‐contaminated mine sites in Australia.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Arsenic contamination at the Mole River mine, northern New South Wales

Ashley

Lottermoser

1999

Australian Journal of Earth Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mining and processing of arsenopyrite ore at the Mole River mine in the 1920–1930s resulted in abandoned mine workings, waste dumps and an arsenic oxide treatment plant. Weathering of waste material (2.6–26.6 wt% As) leads to the formation of water soluble, As‐bearing mineral salts (pharmacolite, arsenolite, krautite) and sulfates which affect surface waters after rainfall events. Highly contaminated soils, covering about 12 ha at the mine, have extreme As (mean 0.93 wt%) and elevated Fe, Ag, Cu, Pb, Sb and Zn values compared with background soils (mean 8 ppm As). Regionally contaminated soils have a mean As content of 55 ppm and the contaminated area is estimated to be 60 km2. The soils have acquired their metal enrichments by hydromorphic dispersion from the dissolution of As‐rich particulates, erosion of As‐rich particulates from the dumps, and atmospheric fall‐out from processing plant emissions. Stream sediments within a radius of 2 km of the mine display metal enrichments (62 ppm to 27.5 wt% As) compared with the mean background of 23 ppm As. This enrichment has been caused by erosion and collapse of waste‐dump material into local creeks, seepages and ephemeral surface runoff, and erosion and transportation of contaminated soil into the local drainage system. Water samples from a mine shaft and waste‐dump seepages have the lowest pH (4.1) and highest As values (up to 13.9 mg/L), and contain algal blooms of Klebsormidium sp. The variable flow regime of the Mole River causes dilution of As‐rich drainage waters to background values (mean 0.0086 mg/L As) within 2.5 km downstream. Bioaccumulation of As and phytotoxicity to lower plants has been observed in the mine area, but several metal‐tolerant plant species (Angophora floribunda, Cassinia laevis, Chrysocephalum apiculatum, Cymbopogon refractus, Cynodon dactylon, Juncus subsecundus and Poa sieberiana) colonise the periphery of the contaminated site.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Arsenic contamination at the Mole River mine, northern New South Wales

Ashley

Lottermoser

1999

Australian Journal of Earth Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…An assessment of soil quality in the post-mining areas and distinguishing between natural (geologic) and anthropogenic influence on the soil chemistry is a very difficult task due to a physical disturbance of soil horizons and very high heterogeneity of contaminant concentrations in mine soils (Hudson et al 1997). The regulatory standards in many countries, including Poland, differ for individual categories of soils depending on the type of area management and anthropogenic influence (e.g.…”

Section: Geochemical Background Values and Soil Qualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These variations are inadequately documented and their existence is often overlooked in the establishment of land-use policy. Hudson et al (1997) have criticized an approach of regulatory agencies to identification of the lowest concentrations of metals in different environmental samples collected in the post-mining areas as geochemical background values. These authors also stressed the need for recognition of sitespecific background concentrations and development of guidelines for background characterization.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Geochemical background of potentially toxic trace elements in soils of the historic copper mining area: a case study from Miedzianka Mt., Holy Cross Mountains, south-central Poland

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The aim of this study was to evaluate the geochemical background and spatial distribution patterns of selected trace elements (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, U and Zn) in 62 surface soil samples collected in the historic Cu mining area (Miedzianka Mt., Holy Cross Mountains, south-central Poland). In the study area the mining activity dates back to the fourteenth century. After the shutdown of mining operations in 1953, the soil was not remediated and neither its mineralogy nor chemistry was examined. The examined soils showed a high variability in the element concentrations. The threshold values defined as the upper limits of geochemical background range (mg kg -1 in parentheses) were Cr (63), Mn (2156), Ni (39), Cu (52), Zn (175), As (36), Cd (2), Pb (73) and U (1.9). A high percentage of the samples exhibited trace element concentrations above the upper limit of the geochemical background range. The threshold values were evaluated in this study with application of the iterative 2r-technique. All of these values exceeded the standards recommended for soils in protected areas of Poland. The sampling points with anomalous concentrations of potentially toxic trace elements were located mostly in southern and western parts of the study area close to the sites of former mining activities. Very high concentrations of As, Cr and Ni at several sites may adversely influence the environment. High positive correlations between all the determined elements may be indicative of a common geogenic source of these elements and their geochemical affinity.

show abstract

“…When pyrite gets in contact with oxygenated waters, sulphates, iron and acidity are released to the environment. The estimation of soil quality around the mining areas and impacts of natural or anthropogenic activities on the soil chemistry is a comparatively complicated work because of the interruption of physical properties of soil horizons and very high heterogeneity of contaminant concentrations in mine soils (Hudson et al 1997). The regulatory standards in different countries, including Bangladesh, vary for particular class of soils depending on the type of area management and anthropogenic influence such as residential soils, agricultural soils, technogenic soils, etc.…”

Section: Soil Quality With Respect To Agricultural Purposesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of soil quality for agricultural purposes around the Barapukuria coal mining industrial area, Bangladesh: insights from chemical and multivariate statistical analysis

2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Barapukuria coal mine which has been operating from 2002 is situated in such a location that is dependent on agriculture. Pollution from Coal mining poses a huge risk to the ecosystem and surrounding soil. So, there could be some impact of the Barapukuria coal mine on the surrounding soil. The main aim of this study is to identify the soil quality of the study area and also see how much the soil is deviated from its standard reference value.Results: From the result it has been identified that pH of the soil is relatively low near the coal mine due to the acid mine drainage. Moreover, Total Nitrogen of the soil samples is also below than the standard value. On the other hand, Iron (Fe), Potassium (K), and Organic matter (OM) and Copper (Cu) are relatively higher than the Standard Reference value for agriculture. So, it is clear that Iron pyrite (FeS 2 ) and chalcopyrite (CuFeS 2 ) which are released during mining operations is the pivotal reason for the degradation of the soil of the surrounding area. Various statistical analytical tools have been used in this study for analyzing the data. Correlation matrix and factor analysis show that degradation of soil is encountered because of anthropogenic causes i.e. because of the coal mine. Besides, cluster analysis entails that which soil samples are deviated from their standard condition and also classifies the soil samples according to their homogeneity. Moreover, one way ANOVA identifies the soil quality controlling factors and the spatial variability of soil samples. Conclusion:From the agricultural point of view, this study reveals that there are significant factors involved in the degradation of the soil and this degradation is occurring rapidly. The nutrients in the soil for plant growth such as Nitrogen (N), Potassium (K), Iron (Fe), Copper (Cu) and Organic matter (OM) are deviated from the standard reference value due to mining activities which ultimately affect the annual paddy production of the study area.

show abstract

Controls on As, Pb, and Mn distribution in community soils of an historical mining district, southwestern Colorado

Cited by 13 publications

References 4 publications

Arsenic contamination at the Mole River mine, northern New South Wales

Arsenic contamination at the Mole River mine, northern New South Wales

Geochemical background of potentially toxic trace elements in soils of the historic copper mining area: a case study from Miedzianka Mt., Holy Cross Mountains, south-central Poland

Assessment of soil quality for agricultural purposes around the Barapukuria coal mining industrial area, Bangladesh: insights from chemical and multivariate statistical analysis

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About