Mercury contamination of active channel sediment and floodplain deposits from historic gold mining at Gold Hill,North Carolina,USA |
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| Authors: | Scott Lecce Robert Pavlowsky Gwenda Schlomer |
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| Institution: | (1) Department of Geography, East Carolina University, A-227 Brewster Building, Greenville, NC 27858, USA;(2) Department of Geography, Geology and Planning, Missouri State University, Springfield, MO, USA |
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| Abstract: | A reconnaissance investigation of mercury contamination associated with historic gold mining in North Carolina, USA, revealed
high concentrations of mercury in channel and floodplain sediments downstream from the Gold Hill mining district. The most
intense period of mining activities in this region occurred in the 1840s and 1850s when mercury amalgamation was used to recover
fine gold particles from milled ore. This paper evaluates mercury concentrations measured in active channel sediments and
two cores recovered from historic floodplain deposits of the lower portion of Dutch Buffalo Creek. Mercury concentrations
in these cores range from 0.01 to 2.2 mg/kg, with maximum concentrations more than 35 times background levels. A later peak
in copper concentrations is associated with the operation of a large copper mine between 1899 and 1906. Following the most
intense periods of mining, both mercury and copper concentrations decrease upcore to constant levels of about twice pre-mining
background concentrations. Results suggest that vertical trends in mercury and other trace metals provide a useful tool for
interpreting rates of historic floodplain sedimentation in the Piedmont of North Carolina. |
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| Keywords: | Mercury Gold mining Floodplains Sedimentation Contamination |
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