Heavy metals in freshly deposited sediments of the river Subernarekha, India: an example of lithogenic and anthropogenic effects

Heavy metal distribution patterns in river sediments aid in understanding the exogenic cycling of elements as well as in assessing the effect of anthropogenic influences. In India, the Subernarekha river flows over the Precambrian terrain of the Singhbhum craton in eastern India. The rocks are of an iron ore series and the primary rock types are schist and quartzite. One main tributary, the Kharkhai, flows through granite rocks and subsequently flows through the schist and quartzite layers. The Subernarekha flows through the East Singhbhum district, which is one of India’s industrialised areas known for ore mining, steel production, power generation, cement production and other related activities. Freshly deposited river sediments were collected upstream and downstream the industrial zone. Samples were collected from four locations and analysed in <63-μm sediment fraction for heavy metals including Zn, Pb, Cd and Cu by anodic stripping voltammetry. Enrichment of these elements over and above the local natural concentration level has been calculated and reported. Sediments of the present study are classified by Muller’s geo-accumulation index (I _geo) and vary from element to element and with climatic seasons. During pre-monsoon period the maximum I _geo value for Zn is moderately to highly polluted and for Cu and Pb is moderately polluted, respectively, based on the Muller’s standard. Anthropogenic, lithogenic or cumulative effects of both components are the main reasons for such variations in I _geo values. The basic igneous rock layer through which the river flows or a seasonal rivulet that joins with the main river may be the primary source for lithogenic components.     

Will the river Irtysh survive the year 2030? Impact of long-term unsuitable land use and water management of the upper stretch of the river catchment (North Kazakhstan)

The Irtysh river basin all the way from river spring in China across Kazakhstan as far as the Russian part of Siberia is among the most ecologically endangered and affected regions on our planet. The study provides a summary of the historical reasons for anthropological interventions in this area, which began with the construction of plants of the military—industrial complexes in the forties of the last century during World War II. These plants have a major share in extreme high concentrations of heavy metals in surface as well in groundwaters locally. The Semipalatinsk nuclear polygon plays a specific role as a source of contamination of local waters. The release of top secret data enabled us to gain knowledge about serious problems related to high radioactivity of groundwaters, which should spread uncontrollably through a system of secondary fissures activated by nuclear blasts. Another serious problem in this region is the quantitative aspect of contamination. Model simulations of water balance indicate that large industrial development in the spring area in China and continuously increasing water consumption in Kazakhstan may lead to desiccation of the lower stretch of this large river in Siberia during the summer months of 2030.     

Sediment-Based Study of the Effects of Decreasing Mine Water Pollutionon a Heavily Modified, Nutrient Enriched Lake

Ni and Cu mining and ore processing in Hitura, Western Finland, have resulted in emissions of metal-rich wastewaters into the nearby Kalajoki River since 1970. The wastewaters are discharged into the river 3 km upstream from the eutrophic Lake Pidisjärvi, which is a widening of the river by the town of Nivala. The water level of the lake was elevated by 1.5 m and the extensive macrophyte stands were cut in 1979, profoundly changing the environmental conditions. The effects of the decreasing metal emissions and nutrient concentrations since 1979 on the now open 3.9 km² lake were studied with paleolimnological techniques. A 2-m sediment core was taken from the lake in February 2004 and analysed for sediment chemistry and diatom assemblages. At the coring site, 13 cm of sediment had been deposited since 1979, on top of a bed of undecomposed macrophyte remains. When the sediment chemistry was compared with records of decreasing metal loading since 1979, no correlation was found because post-depositional mobility and changes in sediment characteristics affect the sediment metal profiles. Thus, the reduced emissions from the mine and the lower lake water phosphorus levels have not caused a corresponding decrease in sediment metal and P concentrations. However, both of these environmental variables accounted for a statistically significant percentage of variation in the sedimentary diatom assemblages in a redundancy analysis constrained to a single variable. This relationship persisted for Ni loading even in a partial analysis, while the importance of nutrients was confirmed by the good correlation between diatom-inferred and measured P concentrations. The results suggest that reductions in metal and nutrient loading have had an effect on the algal assemblages even though the sediment concentrations of Ni, Cu or P have not decreased.     

Lead, zinc, and antimony contamination of the Rio Chilco-Rio Tupiza drainage system, Southern Bolivia

An intense, but localized rainfall event in February 2003, led to the severe erosion and failure of a tailings disposal impoundment at the Abarόa Antimony Mine in southern Bolivia. The failure released approximately 5,500 m³ of contaminated tailings into the Rio Chilco-Rio Tupiza drainage system. The impacts of the event on sediment quality are examined and compared to contamination resulting from historic mining operations in the headwaters of the basin. Of primary concern are contaminated floodplain soils located along downstream reaches of the Rio Tupiza which were found to contain lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), and antimony (Sb) concentrations that locally exceed Canadian, German, and Dutch guidelines for agricultural use. Spatial patterns in sediment-borne trace metal concentrations, combined with Pb isotopic data, indicate that Pb, Zn, and Sb are derived from three tributary basins draining the Abarόa, Chilcobija, and Tatasi-Portugalete mining districts. Downstream of each tributary, geographical patterns in trace metal concentrations reflect local geomorphic changes throughout the drainage system. Trace metal concentrations within the Rio Chilco decrease rapidly downstream as a result of dilution by uncontaminated sediments and storage of metal enriched particles (e.g., sulfide minerals) in the channel bed as a result of ongoing aggradation. Storage in the floodplains is limited. These processes significantly reduced the dispersal and, thus, the relative environmental affects of tailings eroded from the Abarόa Mine during the 2003 flood. In contrast, storage of Pb, Zn, and Sb in floodplains along the Rio Tupiza is significant, the majority of which is derived from historic mining operations, particularly mining within the Tatasi-Portugalete district.     

Vertical distribution and water solubility of phosphorus and heavy metals in sediments of the St. Lucie Estuary, South Florida, USA

Accumulation and distribution of heavy metals and phosphorus in sediments impact water quality. There has been an increasing concern regarding fish health in the St. Lucie Estuary, which is related to increased inputs of nutrients and metals in recent decades. To investigate vertical changes of contaminants (P, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, and Mn) in sediments of the St. Lucie Estuary in South Florida, 117 layer samples from six of the 210 to 420 cm depth cores were analyzed for their total and water-soluble P and heavy metals, clay, total Fe, Al, K, Ca, Mg, Na, and pH. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used in two sets of analytical data (total and water-soluble contaminant concentrations) to document changes of contaminants in each core of sediments. The PCA of total contaminants and minerals resulted in two factors (principal components). The first and second factors accounted for 61.7 and 17.2 % of the total variation in all variables, and contrast indicators associated with contaminants of P, Cd, Co, Cr, Ni, Pb, Zn, and Mn and accumulation of Fe and Al oxides, respectively. The first factor could be used for overall assessment of P and heavy metal contamination, and was higher in the upper 45–90 cm than the lower depths of each core. The concentrations of P and heavy metals in the surface layers of sediments significantly increased, as compared with those in the sediments deeper than 45–90 cm. The PCA of water-soluble contaminants developed two factors. The second factor (Cu–P) was higher in the upper than the lower depths of the sediment, whereas the highest score of the first factor (Cd–Co–Cr–Ni–Pb–Zn–Mn) occurred below 100 cm. The water-soluble Cu and P concentrations were mainly dependent on their total concentrations in the sediments, whereas the water-soluble Cd, Co, Cr, Ni, Pb, Zn, and Mn concentrations were mainly controlled by pH.     

Dissolved Trace Metal–Organic Complexes in the Lot–Garonne River System Determined Using the C18 Sep-Pak System

An 11-month observation of dissolved and particulate organic matter, chlorophyll a(Chl a), C18 Sep-Pak extractable hydrophobic dissolved organic matter (hDOM) fraction and associated dissolved trace metals (Cd, Cu, V, Co, Ni, Mo, U) was performed in the Lot–Garonne River system. This system includes the Riou Mort, the Lot River and the downstream reaches of the Garonne River and represents the fluvial transport path of trace metals between the major point source of polymetallic pollution, located in the Riou Mort watershed and the Gironde estuary. Spatial and temporal variations of dissolved and particulate organic carbon and Chl areflect the presence of different types of organic matter and their relation with the hDOM fraction. Maximum Chl a/POC ratios (up to 0.03), indicate intense phytoplankton production from March to May. In the Lot River (Temple), DOC and POC concentrations were clearly higher and mean Chl a concentration (2.8 mg g⁻¹) was about three times higher than those of the other sites. High Chl a/POC ratios suggest high phytoplankton activity with maxima in spring and late summer. In the Riou Mort River, very high POC concentrations of up to 40 (mean: 20) occurred, whereas Chl a concentrations were relatively low indicating low phytoplankton activity. High, strongly variable DOC and POC concentrations suggest important natural (Carboniferous soils, forests) or anthropogenic (e.g., former coal mines, waste areas, agriculture, sewage) carbon sources within the small Riou Mort watershed. Despite high DOC concentrations in the Riou Mort River, hDOM metal fractions were generally lower than those at the other sites. The general order of decreasing binding strength between metals and the organic hydrophobic phase (Cu, U > Co, Ni > V, Mo > Cd) at all four sites was in good agreement with the Irving–William series of transition element affinity towards organic ligands. Accordingly, the role of the hydrophobic phase in dissolved Cd transport appeared to be negligible, whereas the hDOM–Cu fraction strongly contributed to dissolved Cu transport.     

The Role of Organic Matter During Metal Enrichment in Permian Kupferschiefer of the Rudna Mine,Southwest Poland

The bulk composition of organic matter and saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons extracted from 16 samples collected from two Kuperschiefer profiles in the Rudna mine,Southwest Poland has been analyzed to study the role of organic matter during base metal enrichment in the Kupferschiefer shale.The results indicated that the extract yields and saturated hydrocarbon yields decreased with increasing base metal contents.GC and GC/MS analyses indicated that n -alkanes and alkylated aromatic compounds were depleted and may have served as hydrogen donators for thermochemical sulfate reduction.The enrichment of base metal is closely connected with the destruction of hydrocarbons.     

200 years of mining activities at La Paz/San Luis Potosí/Mexico - Consequences for environment and geochemical exploration

The Ag---Pb---Zn---Cu---Au mining district of Santa María de La Paz has been extensively exploited for approximately 200 years. Consequences of these activities are several deposits of tailings with high As and heavy metal concentrations, which are completely unstable. The climate is semiarid and as the dumps have no protective cover, material from the dumps is dispersed by strong winds. It is also washed out during seasonally heavy rainfalls. By these processes approximately 100 km² of surrounding have been contaminated by dump material. The As and heavy metal content of the soils was determined as well as their level in crops (Zea Maize) from agricultural lands in the vicinity of the dumps. In the direction of prevailing winds concentrations up to 1000 ppm Zn, 400 ppm Pb, 16 ppm Cd, 550 ppm Cu and 300 As have been detected in top soils. Using fuzzy cluster analysis the different contamination sources could be identified. Grains of corn from contaminated sites showed no critical concentrations, but leaves which are also used tor fodder, have As-concentrations up to 20 ppm.     

Mobility of heavy metals as a function of pH of samples from an overbank sediment profile contaminated by mining activities

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.     

Heavy metal retention in secondary precipitates from a mine rock dump and underlying soil, Dalarna, Sweden

This study investigates the retention of heavy metals in secondary precipitates from a sulfidic mine rock dump and underlying podzolic soils by means of mineralogical and chemical extraction methods. The rock dump, which is at least 50 years old, consists of a 5–10-cm-thick leached zone and an underlying 110–115-cm-thick accumulation zone. Optical microscopy and electron microprobe analyses confirm that pyrrhotite weathering has proceeded much further in the leached horizon relative to the accumulation horizon. The weathering of sulfides in the leached zone has resulted in the migration of most heavy metals to the accumulation zone or underlying soils, where they are retained in more stable phases such as secondary ferric minerals, including goethite and jarosite. Some metals are temporarily retained in hydrated ferrous sulfates (e.g., melanterite, rozenite). Received: 28 October 1996 · Accepted: 24 February 1997