Biogeochemical redox cycling of arsenic in mine-impacted lake sediments and co-existing pore waters near Giant Mine, Yellowknife Bay, Canada

Andrade, C. F.; Jamieson, Heather E.; Kyser, T. Kurt; Praharaj, T.; Fortin, Danielle

doi:10.1016/j.apgeochem.2009.11.005

Cited by 71 publications

(84 citation statements)

References 34 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Enhanced fixation of arsenic in the sediments has been linked to adsorption onto iron oxide compounds (known to have been produced by roasting at Giant Mine [46]), with decreased leaching to the water column exhibited when arsenic and iron co-precipitate [44,47]. Sediment records from nearby Yellowknife Bay, while recording a distinct peak in arsenic associated with the height of mining operations, also exhibit surficial enrichment attributed to post-depositional remobilization via reductive dissolution and re-precipitation in the oxic layer near the sediment -water interface [28]. In Pocket Lake, sedimentary arsenic concentrations slightly downcore to the timing of the onset of mining in 1948 are somewhat elevated compared to those below a core depth of 24 cm, suggesting some downward migration may occur; however, we observe no surficial enrichment of arsenic.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By contrast, arsenic and metal concentrations in the sediment core from Pocket Lake peaked later, in approximately 1970, after which concentrations declined and returned to pre-impact conditions. Sedimentary arsenic profiles from Yellowknife Bay, an embayment of Great Slave Lake at Yellowknife, more closely followed the emission history of Giant Mine, exhibiting increases in arsenic concentrations consistent with the initiation of mining operations at Giant Mine and peaking in approximately 1960 [27,28]. There are two competing hypotheses to explain the delayed peak in metal(loid)s in Pocket Lake: (i) post-depositional remobilization of metal(loid)s in the sediments interfere with the use of the sediment core from Pocket Lake as a historical archive of Giant Mine emissions; and (ii) the delayed peak in metal(loid) concentrations in Pocket Lake is related to retention in the catchment, providing a source of continued influx of metal (loid)s into Pocket Lake after atmospheric emission reductions.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…During the full operational history of Giant Mine, an estimated 20 million kg of As 2 O 3 were released to the environment [25], and thus the legacy of contamination during the course of the Giant Mine operation is substantial. Increases in arsenic concentrations in sediment core profiles from Yellowknife Bay (Great Slave Lake), adjacent to the Giant Mine lease, have been reported consistent with the opening years of the mine in approximately 1950 [27,28], and arsenic remains elevated in surface waters within approximately 15 km of the mine (figure 1) [18,19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Multi-trophic level response to extreme metal contamination from gold mining in a subarctic lake

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Giant Mine, located in the city of Yellowknife (Northwest Territories, Canada), is a dramatic example of subarctic legacy contamination from mining activities, with remediation costs projected to exceed $1 billion. Operational between 1948 and 2004, gold extraction at Giant Mine released large quantities of arsenic and metals from the roasting of arsenopyrite ore. We examined the long-term ecological effects of roaster emissions on Pocket Lake, a small lake at the edge of the Giant Mine lease boundary, using a spectrum of palaeoenvironmental approaches. A dated sedimentary profile tracked striking increases (approx. 1700%) in arsenic concentrations coeval with the initiation of Giant Mine operations. Large increases in mercury, antimony and lead also occurred. Synchronous changes in biological indicator assemblages from multiple aquatic trophic levels, in both benthic and pelagic habitats, indicate dramatic ecological responses to extreme metal(loid) contamination. At the peak of contamination, all Cladocera, a keystone group of primary consumers, as well as all planktonic diatoms, were functionally lost from the sediment record. No biological recovery has been inferred, despite the fact that the bulk of metal(loid) emissions occurred more than 50 years ago, and the cessation of all ore-roasting activities in Yellowknife in 1999.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Multi-trophic level response to extreme metal contamination from gold mining in a subarctic lake

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…One of the most toxic and bioaccessable forms of As, As 2 O 3 [51], is present abundantly in the lake sediments and streams in the Yellowknife area due to gold smelting associated with several mining operations, primarily the Giant Mine [36]. Previous research carried out on assessing the As levels in various mediums in the Yellowknife region suggest that current As background level in lake sediment is between ∼10 to 35 ppm [52][53][54] and can reach to 150 ppm in soil [55]. However, these studies also show that As level can reach extreme levels in soil (500 to 9300 ppm; [56,57]), lake sediment (1764 to 3821 ppm in the Baker Creek watershed; [58], and surface water samples (1500 to 20,400 μg/L; [59,60]).…”

Section: Arsenic Bioavailabilitymentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The remediation project has three objectives: (1) to work on stabilizing the site of the Giant Mine; (2) to isolate contamination from the surrounding environment; and (3) to rehabilitate the mine site to a safe condition in order to restore ecological processes on the mine lease area [65]. Numerous environmental studies have been conducted on the mine lease area and known discharge pathways of Giant and Con mines since the 1970s (e.g., [54,57,66]). However, little is known about the ecological impact of Giant and Con mines on the surrounding region ( [66]; a summary of literature dealing with environmental studies is presented in Galloway et al [67]).…”

Section: Remediation Planmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lacustrine Arcellinina (Testate Amoebae) as Bioindicators of Arsenic Contamination

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Arcellininids (testate amoebae) were examined from 61 surface sediment samples collected from 59 lakes in the vicinity of former gold mines, notably Giant Mine, near Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada to determine their utility as bioindicators of arsenic (As), which occurs both as a byproduct of gold extraction at mines in the area and ore-bearing outcrops. Cluster analysis (Q-R-mode) and detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) reveal five arcellininid assemblages, three of which are related to varying As concentrations in the sediment samples. Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that 14 statistically significant environmental parameters explained 57 % of the variation in faunal distribution, while partial RDA indicated that As had the greatest influence on assemblage variance (10.7 %; p < 0.10). Stress-indicating species (primarily centropyxids) characterized the faunas of samples with high As concentrations (median = 121.7 ppm, max > 10000 ppm, min = 16.1 ppm, n = 32), while difflugiid dominated assemblages were prevalent in substrates with relatively low As concentrations (median = 30.2 ppm, max = 905.2 ppm, min = 6.3 ppm, n = 20). Most of the lakes with very high As levels are located downwind (N and W) of the former Giant Mine roaster stack where refractory ore was roasted and substantial quantities of As were released (as As2O3) to the atmosphere in the first decade of mining. This spatial pattern suggests that a significant proportion of the observed As, in at least these lakes, are industrially derived. The results of this study highlight the sensitivity of Arcellinina to As and confirm that the group has considerable potential for assessing the impact of As contamination on lakes.

show abstract

Contrasting arsenic cycling in strongly and weakly stratified contaminated lakes: Evidence for temperature control on sediment–water arsenic fluxes

Barrett

Hull

Burkart

et al. 2019

Limnology & Oceanography

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Arsenic contamination of lakebed sediments is widespread due to a range of human activities, including herbicide application, waste disposal, mining, and smelter operations. The threat to aquatic ecosystems and human health is dependent on the degree of mobilization from sediments into overlying water columns and exposure of aquatic organisms. We undertook a mechanistic investigation of arsenic cycling in two impacted lakes within the Puget Sound region, a shallow weakly stratified lake and a deep seasonally stratified lake, with similar levels of lakebed arsenic contamination. We found that the processes that cycle arsenic between sediments and the water column differed greatly in shallow and deep lakes. In the shallow lake, seasonal temperature increases at the lakebed surface resulted in high porewater arsenic concentrations that drove larger diffusive fluxes of arsenic across the sediment-water interface compared to the deep, stratified lake where the lakebed remained~10 C cooler. Plankton in the shallow lake accumulated up to an order of magnitude more arsenic than plankton in the deep lake due to elevated aqueous arsenic concentrations in oxygenated waters and low phosphate : arsenate ratios in the shallow lake. As a result, strong arsenic mobilization from sediments in the shallow lake was countered by large arsenic sedimentation rates out of the water column driven by plankton settling.

show abstract

Biogeochemical redox cycling of arsenic in mine-impacted lake sediments and co-existing pore waters near Giant Mine, Yellowknife Bay, Canada

Cited by 71 publications

References 34 publications

Multi-trophic level response to extreme metal contamination from gold mining in a subarctic lake

Multi-trophic level response to extreme metal contamination from gold mining in a subarctic lake

Lacustrine Arcellinina (Testate Amoebae) as Bioindicators of Arsenic Contamination

Contrasting arsenic cycling in strongly and weakly stratified contaminated lakes: Evidence for temperature control on sediment–water arsenic fluxes

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About