Metal Contamination from Gold Mining in the Cid District, North Carolina

Legacy effects on sediments in river corridors

“…Knox, 2006;Trimble, 2013), • the magnitude, frequency, and duration of flows that mobilize legacyaffected sediments (e.g., Clark and Wilcock, 2000;Coulthard et al, 2000), • how interactions among channel geometry, substrate resistance, disturbance regime, flow and sediment supply govern erosion and deposition of sediments and dispersal along river networks and into nearshore environments (e.g., Montgomery, 1999;Brierley and Fryirs, 2005), • the influence of surface and subsurface water and solute fluxes on sediment geochemistry (e.g., Hren et al, 2001;Lecce et al, 2011), and • the residence time of legacy-affected sediments (e.g., Marcus et al, 2001;Walter and Merritts, 2008).…”

“…The resulting acute pollution killed river organisms and affected human-drinking water supplies for a period of weeks. The more common scenario, however, is that contaminants persist for centuries and are repeatedly mobilized, dispersed and deposited in river environments accessible to organisms during large floods (Lewin and Macklin, 1987;Miller et al, 1999;Stoughton and Marcus, 2000;Ciszewski, 2001;Marcus et al, 2001;Lecce et al, 2011). Dozens of failures of mining-tailings dams have dispersed contaminants throughout river networks during the 20th century (Macklin et al, 2006).…”

Anthropic signatures in alluvium of the Upper Little Tennessee River valley, Southern Blue Ridge Mountains, USA

“…A gold-belt trends across the southeastern United States (Pardee and Park, 1948), including the Upper Little Tennessee watershed, and gold mining was quite active during the late 1800s and early 1900s (Lecce et al 2011). Mercury (Hg) was used extensively in early gold mining to amalgamate and recover gold from sluices and stamp mills (Pardee and Park, 1948).…”

“…For example, the lead and zinc content in overbank sediments increased greatly in the upper Mississippi valley during the 19th century due to mining activities (Knox, 1987;. Mercury (Hg) and gold (Au) concentrations were distinctively higher in post-settlement sediments of Georgia and North Carolina because of past gold mining (Leigh, 1994(Leigh, , 1997Lecce et al, 2008Lecce et al, , 2011Pavlowsky et al 2010).…”

Legacy sediment stored in sinkholes: a case study of three urban watersheds in Tennessee, United States of America

“…In the United States, legacy sediments generally date from the period of European settlement, which marked the beginning of widespread land cultivation and associated erosion (James, 2011;Trimble, 2008;Walter & Merritts, 2008). Relative and absolute dating of legacy sediments from floodplains has revealed valuable information about their environmental history, including land use and climatic changes (Knox, 1987(Knox, , 2006Lecce, Pavlowsky, Bassett, & Martin, 2011). Furthermore, legacy sediments contaminated with heavy metals and pesticides have been recognized as a potential soil and groundwater pollution source (Dennis, Macklin, Coulthard, & Brewer, 2003;Turner, Brewer, & Macklin, 2008).…”