Pollution of a water course impacted by acid mine drainage in the Imgok creek of the Gangreung coal field,Korea |
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| Institution: | 1. U.S. Geological Survey, Bldg. 20 Box 25046, MS 964D, DFC, Denver, CO 80225-0046, USA;2. U.S. Geological Survey, 954 National Center, Reston, VA 20192, USA;1. Centre in Water Research and Development, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa;2. Industrial Mine Water Research Unit (IMWaRU), School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering (CHMT), University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa;3. Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Department of Environmental Biotechnology, Leipzig, Germany;4. Mineral-Metal Recovery and Recycling (MMR&R) Research Group, Mineral Processing Division, Department of Mining Engineering, Suleyman Demiral University, TR32260 Isparta, Turkey;1. School of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, PR China;2. Key Laboratory of Environmental Protection and Eco-Remediation of Guangdong Regular Higher Education Institutions, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, PR China;3. School of Bioscience and Bioengineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, PR China |
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| Abstract: | The purposes of this study are to (i) determine the geochemical characteristics of Imgok creek impacted by acid mine drainage (AMD) generated from abandoned coal mines, (ii) to assess the pollution of heavy metals in the stream sediments and soils, and (iii) to identify the chemical form of Fe precipitates collected in the study area where there are 4 abandoned coal mines, which belong to the Grangreung coal field at the eastern part of Korea. AMD generated from mine adits and coal refuse piles shows low pH, and high concentrations of Fe, Al and SO4, especially in the Youngdong coal mine. In Imgok creek, pH values increased, and total dissolved solids (TDS) values decreased with distance. The concentrations of toxic heavy metals and major cations except Fe decreased by dilution, but the concentration of Fe decreased rapidly due to the formation of precipitates. The quality of groundwater samples did not exceed the Korean drinking-water standard. In the stream sediments, the concentrations of Fe are relatively high in the Youngdong tributary and Imgok creek, but the concentrations of heavy metals are similar to those of unpolluted sediments. Pollution indices of agricultural soils range from 0.28 to 0.47. Yellowish red Fe precipitates collected in the study area turned out to be amorphous or poorly crystallized minerals (determined by X-ray diffraction patterns and Feox/Fetot ratios) and to contain chemically bonded SO4 and OH determined by infra-red (IR) spectral analysis]. With these, the mol ratios of Fe/S ranging from 4.6 to 6.1 determined by electron probe micro-analysis (EPMA) in precipitates strongly support the existence of schwertmannite. |
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