| Abstract: | Parts of the flood plains north of the Harz Mountains are contaminated with heavy metals, such as Pb, Cu, Zn and Cd derived from mining, which has been carried out in the Harz Mts. since the Middle Ages. It is important to know the mobility of the heavy metals in these overbank sediments in order to estimate the danger to the environment arising from this source. This paper deals with the effect of pH on heavy-metal mobility, using a constant-pH method. The investigations were carried out on an overbank sediment profile near Salzgitter Bad, north of the Harz Mts. The mobility of the heavy metals in the overbank sediment profile is described as a function of pH and depth. Besides the mobile heavy-metal fraction at a certain pH, the buffering capacity of the sediment at this pH must be taken into consideration. The different layers of the overbank sediment profile show distinct differences in buffering capacity and a natural pH harrier could be identified in the upper part of the profile. Therefore, to avoid increasing heavy-metal mobility the natural layering of the overbank sediment profile should not be disturbed. Two different kinds of desorption experiments at constant pH are also discussed, as well as the conversion of the heavy-metal species in the ore minerals into the species in the sediment. |
