Geo-Accumulation Index of Manganese in Soils Due to Flooding in Boac and Mogpog Rivers, Marinduque, Philippines with Mining Disaster Exposure

Abstract

This paper presents the effects of flooding on the accumulation of manganese (Mn) in soils within proximity of the Boac and Mogpog rivers in Marinduque of The Philippines. Marinduque, an island province in the Philippines, experienced two catastrophic tailings storage facility (TSF) failures in the 1990s that released sulfide-rich tailings into the two major rivers. The Philippines experiences 21–23 typhoons every year, 11 of which pass thru Marinduque that causing inundation of floodplain areas in the province. A flood hazard map developed using LiDAR DEM was utilized for the Boac and Mogpog rivers for an accurate representation of flooding events. A portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (pXRF) and a Hannah multi-parameter device were used for the on-site analyses of Mn concentration and water physico-chemical properties, respectively. Spatial grid mapping with zonal statistics was employed for a comprehensive analysis of all the data collected and processed. Correlation analysis was carried out on Mn concentrations in soil and surface water, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), pH, temperature, curve number (CN), and flood heights. The curve number indicates the runoff response characteristic of the Mogpog-Boac River basin. The results show that 40% of the total floodplain area of Boac and Mogpog were subjected to high hazards with flood heights above 1.5 m. The Mn content of soils had a statistically significant moderate positive correlation with flood height (r = 0.458) and a moderate negative correlation with pH (r = −0.438). This condition suggested that more extensive flooding promotes Mn contamination of floodplain soils in the two rivers, the source of which includes the mobilization of Mn-bearing silt, sediments, and mine drainage from the abandoned mine pits and TSFs. There is also a strong negative correlation between pH and Mn concentrations in surface water, a relationship attributed to the solubilization of Mn-bearing precipitates based on geochemical modeling results. Using Muller’s geo-accumulation index, 77.5% of the total floodplain of the two rivers was identified as “moderately contaminated” with an average Mn soil content of 3.4% by weight (34,000 mg/kg). The Mn contamination map of floodplain soils in the Mogpog and Boac rivers described in this study could guide relevant regional, national, and local government agencies in planning appropriate intervention, mitigation, remediation, and rehabilitation strategies to limit human exposure to highly contaminated areas.

Detection of Heavy Metals, Their Distribution in Tilapia spp., and Health Risks Assessment

“…The new model, as a result of calibration to adjust default calibration values and meet site specific factors, has been labelled as ‘soil ziploc mode’. After this, the portable XRF is ready for elemental analysis and becomes a reliable instrument for metal detection in this study for various media, and it has been used in various studies [ 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ]. The 77 samples were analyzed for the presence of ten (10) metals, such as arsenic (As), barium (Ba), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), mercury (Hg), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn).…”

Study on the Ecotoxic Effects of Uranium and Heavy Metal Elements in Soils of a Uranium Mining Area in Northern Guangdong

“…The geoaccumulation index method is an evaluation method proposed by the German scientist Müller in 1969, which considers not only the influence of anthropogenic pollution factors and environmental geochemistry on the background values but also the possible changes in background values due to natural diagenesis [ 40 , 41 ]. Meanwhile, to evaluate the combined effect of multiple heavy metal elements on the study area, Yao et al [ 42 ] introduced the integrated geoaccumulation index (I tot ), which is defined as the sum of all heavy metal ground accumulation indices ( I geo ) within an area.…”

Suitability Analysis for Solar PV Farm Installation using GIS and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) in Simara Island, Province of Romblon, Philippines

“…The island municipality of Corcuera, more commonly referred to as Simara is in the Philippines, with coordinates of 12.8°N and 122.05°E. It belongs to the group of islands in the Province of Romblon known for its marble industry in the country [9]. It comprises 15 barangays and each barangay consists of puroks while some have sitios.…”