Fluvial-controlled metal and As mobilisation, dispersal and storage in the Río Guadiamar, SW Spain and its implications for long-term contaminant fluxes to the Doñana wetlands

Turner, Jonathan; Brewer, Paul; Macklin, Mark G.

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2007.12.021

Cited by 49 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Also, the existence of wells flooded by the spill where after repeated pumping and addition of neutralizing materials remain acidic indicates that an important volume of aquifer surrounding the wells was Although there are no data on the groundwater quality before 1998, the high levels of toxic elements found in the waters of the Agrio and Guadiamar rivers prior to the failure of the dam (Cabrera et al 1984;Cabrera et al 1987;Arambarri et al 1996), even higher than those found after the spill (Olías et al 2006), clearly show the existence of this previous contamination. This is also noted in other studies conducted on the soils (Kraus and Wiegand 2006;Simón et al 2009) and the river sediments (Martin et al 2000;Hudson-Edwards et al 2003;Turner et al 2008). …”

Section: Temporal Evolutionsupporting

confidence: 83%

“…Many of them have evidenced a rapid initial recovery along with the existence of important residual contamination levels (Alvarez-Ayuso et al 2008), especially in the area closest to the mine, both in soils (Galán et al 2002;Kraus and Wiegand 2006;Simón et al 2009), river sediments (e.g., Hudson-Edwards et al 2003;Turner et al 2008), and vegetation or fauna (e.g., Sánchez López et al 2004;Madejón et al 2006;Márquez-Ferrando et al 2009). In general, for all groups of living beings, the degree of damage has been parallel to that of contaminant levels, with still higher concentrations than in noncontaminated areas (Garrido 2008).…”

Section: Objectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Groundwater contamination evolution in the Guadiamar and Agrio aquifers after the Aznalcóllar spill: assessment and environmental implications

Álvarez

Moral

Galván

et al. 2011

Environ Monit Assess

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In 1998, the Agrio and Guadiamar rivers underwent an enormous environmental disaster caused by the rupture of the Aznalcóllar tailings dam and the release of 6 hm(3) of pyrite sludge and acidic water. Both rivers run over recent alluvial materials which form a small-sized aquifer which is however important because underground water feeds the flow of the rivers. This work analyzes the state of groundwater 10 years after the spill. Before the dam failure, this aquifer was already contaminated in the zone nearest to the mine, to which the impact of the spill was added. Contamination levels in the alluvial aquifer of the Agrio River have decreased remarkably. However, they are still important, with acidic pH values and high concentrations of toxic elements (maximum values of 16 mg/L of Zn and 15 mg/L of Al). There are also important levels of contamination in the Guadiamar alluvial area closest to the mine, as well as in specific zones located further south. The concentration of toxic elements is mainly controlled by pH. The evolution of contaminant levels show a sharp decrease after the first years following the spill, followed by a subsequent stabilization. It is necessary to take measures for the recovery of the aquifer because, otherwise, groundwater will continue contributing contaminants into the Agrio and Guadiamar rivers.

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Section: Temporal Evolutionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Objectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Groundwater contamination evolution in the Guadiamar and Agrio aquifers after the Aznalcóllar spill: assessment and environmental implications

Álvarez

Moral

Galván

et al. 2011

Environ Monit Assess

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“…An integrated understanding of geomorphology and geochemistry enables the detailed reconstruction of temporal and spatial river channel dynamics, such as contaminant dispersal. Additionally, the chemostratigraphy in floodplain sequences helps to constrain sedimentation rates/ chronologies (Turner et al 2008), investigate river system response to environmental change (Macklin 1996), reconstruct flood histories (see above), and model sediment provenance (Bird et al 2010). The advent of micro-XRF core scanning now affords the opportunity to undertake these investigations at temporal resolutions hitherto unachievable.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Micro-XRF Applications in Fluvial Sedimentary Environments of Britain and Ireland: Progress and Prospects

Turner

Jones

Brewer³

et al. 2015

Micro-XRF Studies of Sediment Cores

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This chapter considers applications of micro-XRF in fluvial depositional environments and presents case-studies from Britain and Ireland in three key river management areas: flood reconstruction; pollution and provenance mapping; and floodplain sediment dynamics. Although fluvial sediment archives are typically shorter and more fragmented than marine and lake sediment records, they do offer significant palaeoenvironmental potential, not least because of the sensitivity of river systems to environmental change. A major consideration in micro-XRF analysis, however, is the continuity and heterogeneity of alluvial sediments and the integrity of accretionary records once they have been subjected to post-depositional processes, such as human disturbance and pedogenesis. Thus far, micro-XRF applications in fluvial environments have been limited. One research area currently being developed is the field of flood reconstruciton, where elements and, in particular, element ratios (e.g. Zr/Rb, Zr/Ti) can be used as particle size proxies. Micro-XRF core scanning technologies allow for analysis at the event-scale, which hitherto has been unachievable in silt and clay sediments. The potential to build and signifcantly enhance our understanding of longer term flooding patterns and non-stationarity, offers considerable scope for augmenting instrumental records and providing new perspectives for contemporary river management. Rapid geochemical assessment of fluvial sedimentary deposits can also be used to support floodplain reconstruction studies and pollution investigations, but greater scope will emerge from the calibration of raw XRF cout data to elemental concentrations. In this paper we demonstrate the potential for using micro-XRF data in sediment provenance investigation, but improvements in error quantification and propagation need to be explored. Given that river alluvium plays an integral role in the cycling and storage of contaminants, further applications in this field would be hugely beneficial for river managers. Although sediment heterogeneity places significant challenges to the quantification of micro-ZRF core scanner results, there has been little attempt to establish what these limitation mean in practical terms

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“…Recent tailings dam failures such as the Aznalcóllar dam failure in Spain in 1998 Turner et al 2008), the Baia Mare and Baia Borsa releases in Romania in 2000 , the Aitik mine in Sweden in 2000 (Rico et al 2008) and the Abaroa tailings dam failure in Bolivia in 2003(Villarroel et al 2006) have negatively impacted hundreds of kilometers of river channels and floodplains with toxic elements such as As, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn. The accumulation of these trace elements (density [5.0 g/cm 3 ) and other toxic elements in channel and floodplain alluvium can affect human and animal health, and be phytotoxic to native and cultivated plant species (Pierzynski and Schwab 1993;Kabata-Pendias and Pendias 1992;Adriano 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial distribution of trace elements in floodplain alluvium of the upper Blackfoot River, Montana

2010

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The Mike Horse Mine tailings dam in western Montana was partially breached in 1975 due to heavy rainfall and a failed drainage bypass. Approximately 90,000 tons of metal and arsenic-enriched tailings flowed into Beartrap Creek and the Blackfoot River. The spatial distribution of trace elements As, Cd, Cu, Mn, Pb, and Zn in floodplain alluvium of the upper Blackfoot River were examined along 20 transects in the upper 105 river kilometers downstream from the tailings dam. Trace element concentrations decrease with distance from the failed dam, with As reaching background concentrations 15 km from the Mike Horse dam, Cd and Pb at 21 km, Cu at 31 km, and Mn and Zn at 37 km. Distance from the Mike Horse tailings dam and mine area is the dominating factor in explaining trace element levels, with R 2 values ranging from 0.67 to 0.89. Maximum floodplain trace element concentrations in the upper basin exceed US. EPA ecological screening levels for plants, birds and other mammals, and reflect adverse hazard quotients for exposure to As and Mn for ATV/motorcycle use. Trace element concentrations in channel bank and bed alluvium are similar to concentrations in floodplain alluvium, indicating active transport of trace elements through the river and deposition on the floodplain. The fine fraction (\2 mm) of floodplain alluvium is dominated by sand-sized particles (2.0-0.05 mm), with Cu and Mn significantly correlated with silt-sized (0.05-0.002 mm) alluvium. Ongoing remediation in the headwaters area will not address metal contamination stored downstream in the channel banks and on the floodplain. Additionally, some trace elements (Cu, Mn and Zn) were conveyed farther downstream than were others (As, Cd, Pb).

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Fluvial-controlled metal and As mobilisation, dispersal and storage in the Río Guadiamar, SW Spain and its implications for long-term contaminant fluxes to the Doñana wetlands

Cited by 49 publications

References 28 publications

Groundwater contamination evolution in the Guadiamar and Agrio aquifers after the Aznalcóllar spill: assessment and environmental implications

Groundwater contamination evolution in the Guadiamar and Agrio aquifers after the Aznalcóllar spill: assessment and environmental implications

Micro-XRF Applications in Fluvial Sedimentary Environments of Britain and Ireland: Progress and Prospects

Spatial distribution of trace elements in floodplain alluvium of the upper Blackfoot River, Montana

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