Legacy sediment, lead, and zinc storage in channel and floodplain deposits of the Big River, Old Lead Belt Mining District, Missouri, USA

Buró

et al. 2020

Water

The spatial complexity of floodplains is a function of several processes: hydrodynamics, flow direction, sediment transportation, and land use. Sediments can bind toxic elements, and as there are several pollution sources, the risk of heavy metal accumulation on the floodplains is high. We aimed to determine whether fluvial forms have a role in metal accumulations. Topsoil samples were taken from point bars and swales in the floodplain of the Tisza River, North-East Hungary. Soil properties and metal concentrations were determined, and correlation and hypothesis testing were applied. The results showed that fluvial forms are important drivers of horizontal metal patterns: there were significant differences (p < 0.05) between point bars and swales regarding Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn. Vertical distribution also differed significantly by fluvial forms: swales had higher metal concentrations in all layers. General Linear Models had different results for macro and micro elements: macro element concentrations were determined by the organic matter, while for micro elements the clay content and the forms were significant explanatory variables. These findings are important for land managers and farmers because heavy metal concentration has a direct impact on living organisms, and the risk of bioaccumulation can be high on floodplains.

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geomorphology as a Driver of Heavy Metal Accumulation Patterns in a Floodplain

Buró

et al. 2020

Water

“…Similar patterns can be observed in the case of The Big River (catchment area of 2,500 km 2 ), which drains the Old Lead Belt mining district (SE Missouri). Channel and floodplain deposits are the most contaminated and act as storage of the transported mine tailings material, where three quarters of contaminated channel sediment is located within 25 km of the mining area, while floodplain contains 16% of the contaminated material (Pavlowsky, Lecce, Owen, & Martin, ). Another example is the Kawerong–Jaba River system in Papua New Guinea, where the waste rocks and tailings have been continuously dumped in the river.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the case of atmospheric dispersion of contamination only the upper 15 cm of soil profile is usually affected (Buchauer, 1973). On the contrary, in the case of water transport, complex contamination patterns in the soil and alluvial sediment profile are recorded, and deeper layers can also be affected (Gosar & Žibret, 2011;Pavlowsky et al, 2017), thus making potential clean-up operations more challenging.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of mining and smelting activities on environment and landscape degradation—Slovenian case studies

et al. 2018

This paper provides an overview of the physical and chemical landscape changes that have occurred at four reference sites due to historical mining and smelting activities within Slovenia, and their comparison with similar sites around the World. Literature review has been made with the intention to identify major pollutant sources, its dispersion control factors, and effects. The four reference sites are Idrija, with more than 500‐year Hg mining and ore smelting history, the Meža Valley, also with a 500‐year PbZn mining and smelting history, the Celje area where Zn was smelted for 100 years and the Drava River alluvial plain, which is contaminated because of historical PbZn mining upstream. Based on the comparison between the four abovementioned reference sites and similar sites around the world that are situated in different landscapes and climates, we identified major sources of contamination, which are the erosion of mine and ore processing wastes, and atmospheric emissions of metal‐containing particles from smelters. In the first case, major control factors are rainfall pattern and river gradient, controlling erosion and sediment deposition patterns. In the second case, the prevailing control factors are topography and the dominant wind directions.

“…One hundred of the approximately 200 species of fishes found in Missouri occur in the BRC (MDC, 1997;Pflieger, 1997). The BRC is considered highly impaired due to historical Pb-mining within the catchment, which began in the 1800s and concluded in the 1970s (Czarnezki, 1985;Gale et al, 2002Gale et al, , 2004Pavlowsky et al, 2010Pavlowsky et al, , 2017Schmitt & Finger, 1982). Erosion of chat and tailing piles as well as spillover from tailing ponds, have resulted in extensive contamination from heavy metals across the BRC, with nearly 160 km of streams within the catchment designated as impaired based on their exceedance of state water quality standards for Pb, Zn, and Cd attempts to remediate the contamination already present in the streams and high levels of contaminants remain in these areas.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Big River catchment (BRC) lies within the Old Lead Belt of south-eastern Missouri and has high levels of heavy metal contamination due to historical Pb-mining (Pavlowsky, Owen, & Martin, 2010;Pavlowsky, Lecce, Owen, & Martin, 2017;Schmitt & Finger, 1982). Fishes within these contaminated areas contain high levels of heavy metals in their tissues (Czarnezki, 1985;Gale et al, 2002Gale et al, , 2004Schmitt & McKee, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fish assemblage–environment relationships suggest differential trophic responses to heavy metal contamination

Krause

Chu

et al. 2019

Freshwater Biology

While ecotoxicology has long recognised the importance of identifying levels at which contaminants pose threats to biota, most estimates of species responses to toxicants are derived from controlled laboratory studies and may hold limited relevance to natural systems. However, designing appropriate field‐based studies investigating contaminant induced changes in assemblages has been challenging, partially due to the difficulty in identifying comparable uncontaminated reference sites. The aim of this study is to characterise the effects of heavy metal contamination on natural fish assemblages using an ecologically relevant catchment‐scale design. We hypothesise that environmental variables, including discharge, sediment, and landscape variables, can be used to characterise differences in fish species richness and abundances between sites contaminated with heavy metals and uncontaminated reference sites. We apply a geographic information systems approach that uses assemblage–environment relationships developed using hydrologic model outputs, land cover, and topographic data from uncontaminated reference sites to predict expected fish species richness and abundance at sites contaminated with heavy‐metals within the Big River catchment in south‐eastern Missouri, U.S.A. These predicted levels of richness and abundance are then compared to observed assemblages at contaminated sites to estimate the potential impacts of historical lead mining activities on freshwater taxa. We developed models that characterised variation in Centrarchidae (bass and sunfish) richness and abundance, Cyprinidae (minnows) abundance, and Percidae (darters) richness using variables including streamflow regime, suspended sediment concentration, and land cover at uncontaminated sites. Using these relationships, we predicted expected fish species richness and abundance at heavy metal contaminated sites across the Big River catchment and found a significant reduction in centrarchid abundance from field‐collected data compared to predicted estimates. Our results suggest that centrarchids, which tend to occupy a higher trophic level than cyprinids and percids, have lower abundances at sites contaminated with heavy metals than predicted by assemblage–environment relationships. These decreases in abundance are not associated with decreases in centrarchid species richness, cyprinid abundance, or percid richness. This geographic information systems‐based approach provides a useful and ecologically relevant framework for understanding the response of taxa to the presence of contaminants without assuming habitat equivalence across sites. Our findings also suggest the need for further research regarding how heavy metals impact fishes of varying trophic levels in natural settings.