Mineralogical and geochemical signature of mine waste contamination, Tresillian River, Fal Estuary, Cornwall, UK

Pirrie, Duncan; Camm, G. S.; Sear, L. G.; Hughes, Susan

doi:10.1007/s002540050104

Cited by 37 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…The metalliferous mining activity in Cornwall left tailings and rock dumps and has produced soils (Abrahams and Thornton, 1987) or superficial deposits, including river and estuarine sediments (Pirrie et al, 1997(Pirrie et al, , 2000. In practice, these are contaminated with arsenic and heavy metals.…”

Section: Historical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Contamination was identified in stream sediments (Hosking et al, 1965;Aston et al, 1975;Web et al, 1978;Thornton, 1979), soils (Colburn et al, 1975;Abrahams, 1983;Xu and Thornton, 1985;Abrahams and Thornton, 1987;Li and Thornton, 1993;Mitchell and Barr, 1995;Camm and Moon, 2001), soil pore waters (Haswell et al, 1985), estuarine sediments (Pirrie et al, 1997(Pirrie et al, , 1999a(Pirrie et al, ,b, 2000, acid mine drainage (Johnson and Thornton, 1987;Moon, 1993;Brown et al, 1994;Hunt and Howard, 1994;Hamilton et al, 1999;Brown et al, 2002) and bioavailability studies . The metalloid part of the contamination is derived from the calcination of arsenical ores and concentrates (Earl, 1983(Earl, , 1996, either to remove the arsenic and/or for arsenic recovery.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Characterisation of a mining-related arsenic-contaminated site, Cornwall, UK

Camm

Glass

Bryce³

et al. 2004

Journal of Geochemical Exploration

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Section: Historical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Characterisation of a mining-related arsenic-contaminated site, Cornwall, UK

Camm

Glass

Bryce³

et al. 2004

Journal of Geochemical Exploration

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“…This is consistent with their composition of iron-calcium-silicon glass and copper-, zinc-, chromium-and nickel-rich inclusions. Similar grains have been described from both contaminated soils (Gee et al, 1997;Parsons et al, 2001) and anthropogenically impacted sediments (Pirrie et al, 1997;Rees et al, 1998). These grains, therefore, represent a detrital phase quite distinct from natural sediments.…”

Section: Detrital Mineral Assemblagementioning

confidence: 93%

Sediments, porewaters and diagenesis in an urban water body, Salford, UK: impacts of remediation

Taylor

Boyd

Boult

2003

Hydrological Processes

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Abstract:Contaminated sediments deposited within urban water bodies commonly exert a significant negative effect on overlying water quality. However, our understanding of the processes operating within such anthropogenic sediments is currently poor. This paper describes the nature of the sediment and early diagenetic reactions in a highly polluted major urban water body (the Salford Quays of the Manchester Ship Canal) that has undergone remediation focused on the water column.The style of sedimentation within Salford Quays has been significantly changed as a result of remediation of the water column. Pre-remediation sediments are composed of a range of natural detrital grains, predominantly quartz and clay, and anthropogenic detrital material dominated by industrial furnace-derived metal-rich slag grains. Postremediation sediments are composed of predominantly autochthonous material, including siliceous algal remains and clays. At the top of the pre-remediation sediments and immediately beneath the post-remediation sediments is a layer significantly enriched in furnace-derived slag grains, input into the basin as a result of site clearance prior to water-column remediation. These grains contain a high level of metals, resulting in a significantly enhanced metal concentration in the sediments at this depth.Porewater analysis reveals the importance of both bacterial organic matter oxidation reactions and the dissolution of industrial grains upon the mobility of nutrient and chemical species within Salford Quays. Minor release of iron and manganese at shallow depths is likely to be taking place as a result of bacterial Fe(III) and Mn(IV) reduction. Petrographic analysis reveals that the abundant authigenic mineral within the sediment is manganese-rich vivianite, and thus Fe(II) and Mn(II) released by bacterial reactions may be being taken up through the precipitation of this mineral. Significant porewater peaks in iron, manganese and silicon deeper in the sediment column are most probably the result of dissolution of furnace-derived grains in the sediments. These species have subsequently diffused into porewater above and below the metal-enriched layer.This study illustrates that the remediation of water quality in anthropogenic water bodies can significantly impact upon the physical and chemical nature of sedimentation. Additionally, it also highlights how diagenetic processes in sediments derived from anthropogenic grains can be markedly different from those in sediments derived from natural detrital material.

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“…Previous authors (Hughes, 1999;Pirrie et al, 1997Pirrie et al, , 2002Pirrie et al, , 2003 reported the presence of As, Cu, Hg, Pb and Zn in estuarine areas of Falmouth and Fowey due to mining activities. Sediments from estuaries of the Thames, Stour and Orwell also present significant enrichments of Cd, Cu, Hg, Pb and Zn (Wright and Mason, 1999).…”

Section: Enrichment Factor (Ef) Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 97%

Characterization of harbor sediments from the English Channel: assessment of heavy metal enrichment, biological effect and mobility

Hamdoun

Van-Veen

Basset

et al. 2015

Marine Pollution Bulletin

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(H. Hamdoun). Ab s t r a c tFor a full assessment of the environmental risk posed by dredged sediments not only the anthropogenic enrichment of contaminants, but also their mobility and biological impact should be considered. This study reports on the enrichment factor (EF), mobility, and Adverse Effect Index (AEI) of metals and metalloids in nine dredged sediments. Significant enrichment of As, Cd, Pb and Zn with respect to background values is detected, and calculated AEI values for these elements suggest that it is possible that a corresponding biological effect may be observed. Correlation coefficients also reveal a link between mobility in HCl and enrichment for Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb and Zn, however As and Cu do not display such a link, possibly suggesting that the source of contamination for these elements is less recent. Mobility and enrichment are two parameters which are often studied separately; however this paper shows that in some cases strong correlations occur.

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Mineralogical and geochemical signature of mine waste contamination, Tresillian River, Fal Estuary, Cornwall, UK

Cited by 37 publications

References 5 publications

Characterisation of a mining-related arsenic-contaminated site, Cornwall, UK

Characterisation of a mining-related arsenic-contaminated site, Cornwall, UK

Sediments, porewaters and diagenesis in an urban water body, Salford, UK: impacts of remediation

Characterization of harbor sediments from the English Channel: assessment of heavy metal enrichment, biological effect and mobility

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