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Identification and Prioritisation of Mine Pollution Sources in a Temperate Watershed Using Tracer Injection and Synoptic Sampling

Patrick Byrne, Alan Yendell, Ilaria Frau, Brown Todd Orcid Logo

Mine Water and the Environment, Volume: 40, Issue: 4, Pages: 980 - 993

Swansea University Author: Brown Todd Orcid Logo

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Abstract

Identifying and prioritising mine sites for remediation is challenging due to inherently complex hydrological systems and multiple potential sources of mine pollution dispersed across watersheds. Understanding mine pollution dynamics in wet temperate watersheds is particularly challenging due to sub...

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Published in: Mine Water and the Environment
ISSN: 1025-9112 1616-1068
Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2021
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa58374
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Importantly, diffuse sources of mine pollution were found to be the dominant source of Pb, and an important source of Zn and Cd, even under steady-state streamflow conditions. Mass balance calculations suggest that treatment of the main mine water sources in the upper watershed and capping of the tailings deposit in the lower watershed could reduce stream trace metal concentrations by approximately 70%. These data support the development of conceptual models of mine pollution dynamics in wet temperate watersheds. 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spelling 2022-01-24T15:07:59.0632166 v2 58374 2021-10-18 Identification and Prioritisation of Mine Pollution Sources in a Temperate Watershed Using Tracer Injection and Synoptic Sampling 47b77cc119445bcc02f990f03691425b 0000-0003-0403-936X Brown Todd Brown Todd true false 2021-10-18 SGE Identifying and prioritising mine sites for remediation is challenging due to inherently complex hydrological systems and multiple potential sources of mine pollution dispersed across watersheds. Understanding mine pollution dynamics in wet temperate watersheds is particularly challenging due to substantial variability in precipitation and streamflows, which increase the importance of diffuse sources. A tracer dilution and synoptic sampling experiment was conducted in a mined watershed in Scotland to identify the main sources of mine pollution, the relative importance of point and diffuse sources of pollution, and the potential benefits of mine site remediation to stream water quality. Using high spatial resolution metal loading datasets, the major Zn and Cd source areas were identified as point sources of mine water predominantly located in the upper part of the watershed. In contrast, the main sources of Pb were diffuse sources of mine tailings and wastes located in the lower part of the watershed. In the latter case, mobilisation of Pb occurred primarily from a section of braided wetland and an uncapped tailings area. Importantly, diffuse sources of mine pollution were found to be the dominant source of Pb, and an important source of Zn and Cd, even under steady-state streamflow conditions. Mass balance calculations suggest that treatment of the main mine water sources in the upper watershed and capping of the tailings deposit in the lower watershed could reduce stream trace metal concentrations by approximately 70%. These data support the development of conceptual models of mine pollution dynamics in wet temperate watersheds. These conceptual models are important as they: (1) help prioritise those mine sites and features for remediation that will deliver the most environmental and socio-economic benefit, and; (2) provide a means to quantify the importance of diffuse pollution sources that may increase in importance in the future as a result of changes in precipitation patterns in temperate watersheds. Journal Article Mine Water and the Environment 40 4 980 993 Springer Science and Business Media LLC 1025-9112 1616-1068 Mining; Metal; Scotland; Water quality; Difuse pollution; Remediation 1 12 2021 2021-12-01 10.1007/s10230-021-00792-0 COLLEGE NANME Geography COLLEGE CODE SGE Swansea University This project was supported by the SEPA Research and Development fund as part of its R&D work for novel water monitoring techniques to support identification of pollutant sources. 2022-01-24T15:07:59.0632166 2021-10-18T09:39:47.9608298 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Geography Patrick Byrne 1 Alan Yendell 2 Ilaria Frau 3 Brown Todd 0000-0003-0403-936X 4 58374__21342__6046d918bc79443bb37c655caba32b7f.pdf 58374.pdf 2021-10-28T14:42:20.0931054 Output 2115738 application/pdf Version of Record true © The Author(s) 2021. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Identification and Prioritisation of Mine Pollution Sources in a Temperate Watershed Using Tracer Injection and Synoptic Sampling
spellingShingle Identification and Prioritisation of Mine Pollution Sources in a Temperate Watershed Using Tracer Injection and Synoptic Sampling
Brown Todd
title_short Identification and Prioritisation of Mine Pollution Sources in a Temperate Watershed Using Tracer Injection and Synoptic Sampling
title_full Identification and Prioritisation of Mine Pollution Sources in a Temperate Watershed Using Tracer Injection and Synoptic Sampling
title_fullStr Identification and Prioritisation of Mine Pollution Sources in a Temperate Watershed Using Tracer Injection and Synoptic Sampling
title_full_unstemmed Identification and Prioritisation of Mine Pollution Sources in a Temperate Watershed Using Tracer Injection and Synoptic Sampling
title_sort Identification and Prioritisation of Mine Pollution Sources in a Temperate Watershed Using Tracer Injection and Synoptic Sampling
author_id_str_mv 47b77cc119445bcc02f990f03691425b
author_id_fullname_str_mv 47b77cc119445bcc02f990f03691425b_***_Brown Todd
author Brown Todd
author2 Patrick Byrne
Alan Yendell
Ilaria Frau
Brown Todd
format Journal article
container_title Mine Water and the Environment
container_volume 40
container_issue 4
container_start_page 980
publishDate 2021
institution Swansea University
issn 1025-9112
1616-1068
doi_str_mv 10.1007/s10230-021-00792-0
publisher Springer Science and Business Media LLC
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hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
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description Identifying and prioritising mine sites for remediation is challenging due to inherently complex hydrological systems and multiple potential sources of mine pollution dispersed across watersheds. Understanding mine pollution dynamics in wet temperate watersheds is particularly challenging due to substantial variability in precipitation and streamflows, which increase the importance of diffuse sources. A tracer dilution and synoptic sampling experiment was conducted in a mined watershed in Scotland to identify the main sources of mine pollution, the relative importance of point and diffuse sources of pollution, and the potential benefits of mine site remediation to stream water quality. Using high spatial resolution metal loading datasets, the major Zn and Cd source areas were identified as point sources of mine water predominantly located in the upper part of the watershed. In contrast, the main sources of Pb were diffuse sources of mine tailings and wastes located in the lower part of the watershed. In the latter case, mobilisation of Pb occurred primarily from a section of braided wetland and an uncapped tailings area. Importantly, diffuse sources of mine pollution were found to be the dominant source of Pb, and an important source of Zn and Cd, even under steady-state streamflow conditions. Mass balance calculations suggest that treatment of the main mine water sources in the upper watershed and capping of the tailings deposit in the lower watershed could reduce stream trace metal concentrations by approximately 70%. These data support the development of conceptual models of mine pollution dynamics in wet temperate watersheds. These conceptual models are important as they: (1) help prioritise those mine sites and features for remediation that will deliver the most environmental and socio-economic benefit, and; (2) provide a means to quantify the importance of diffuse pollution sources that may increase in importance in the future as a result of changes in precipitation patterns in temperate watersheds.
published_date 2021-12-01T04:14:51Z
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