Spatial Distribution and Migration Characteristics of Heavy Metals in Grassland Open-Pit Coal Mine Dump Soil Interface

Abstract

The open-pit coal mine dump in the study area contains many low-concentration heavy metal pollutants, which may cause pollution to the soil interface. Firstly, statistical analysis and geostatistical spatial interpolation methods described heavy metal pollution’s spatial distribution. The mine dump heavy metal pollution distribution is strongly random due to disorderly piles, but it is closely related to slope soil erosion. Furthermore, the soil deposition area is where pollutants accumulate. For example, all heavy metal elements converge at the bottom of the dump. Usually, the pollution in the lower part is higher than that in the upper part; the pollution in the lower step is higher than the upper step; the pollution in the soil deposition locations such as flat plate and slope bottom is higher than the soil erosion locations such as slope tip and middle slope. Finally, the hyperspectral remote sensing method described heavy metals pollution’s migration characteristics, that the pollutants could affect the soil interface by at least 1 km. This study provides a basis for preventing and controlling critical parts of mine dump heavy metal pollution and pollution path control.

Pollution Risk Prediction for Cadmium in Soil from an Abandoned Mine Based on Random Forest Model

“…The coefficient of variation of these data provides a better indication of the degree of dispersion compared to standard deviation, and the coefficients of variation for the 10 metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Sb, Tl, Pb, and Zn) were above 15%, with Cd being the highest value, indicating a higher level of risk for toxic metal(loid)s in the soil. According to the above analysis, Cd is considered to be the main contaminant at risk in abandoned mine [ 24 ].…”