Hydrologic and geoenvironmental characterization of wetlands in quarries of the Vinalopó Mitjà (Alicante, Spain)

This paper deals with the environmental characterization of the “Collao de Candela” enclave (Alicante, SE Spain), which in the early 1980s reported strong mining activity mainly due to the extraction of marls. The subsequent abandonment of such quarries produces floods in depressed areas that are constituted as pools. These anthropogenic wetlands are the object of this research. In order to characterize the geometry of the studied wetlands a bathymetry was carried out. Bathymetric data are very important for water managers tasked with assessing wetlands’ status. A chemical and mineralogical characterization has been carried out on the lithologies in the study area. A study was also conducted of the physical and chemical parameters of the waters contained in these pools during one hydrologic cycle. The climate of the zone, having elevated evapotranspiration measurements, favors a progressive concentration of salts in the pools consequence of runoff water washing, the evaporitic sediments as well as from elevated evaporation. The results obtained justify the environmental protection of these marl-gypsum mining quarries as potential wetlands.