Stream bottom sediments as a mean to assess metal contamination in the historic mining district of Almadén (Spain).
Located in the southern half of Spain, Almadén is the world?s largest Hg district and mercury has been mined there for over 2000 years. Its slag heaps and old metallurgy plants represent a risk to watercourses that flow through the district and receive the run-off from the mines. This study collecte...
| Autores: | , , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2014 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha |
| Repositorio: | RUIdeRA. Repositorio Institucional de la UCLM |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ruidera.uclm.es:10578/4752 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/10578/4752 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Gestión del agua Ciencias de la tierra Protección del medio ambiente |
| Sumario: | Located in the southern half of Spain, Almadén is the world?s largest Hg district and mercury has been mined there for over 2000 years. Its slag heaps and old metallurgy plants represent a risk to watercourses that flow through the district and receive the run-off from the mines. This study collected sediment samples along the length of the main watercourses in the mining district. High levels of heavy metals were detected, with Hg levels varying between 1.77 and 255.88 mg kg#8722;1, Pb levels between 20.59 and 131.07 mg kg#8722;1 and Zn levels between 59.06 and 131.07 mg kg#8722;1. The dispersion of these heavy metals in rivers as a result of mining activities has caused sediment quality degradation. As such, when measured using reference indexes such as the SeQI and the EF, sediment quality for the entire district is practically poor, due to anthropogenic contributions, with the concomitant threat to the surrounding environment. |
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