Scholarly record

A GEOCHEMICAL AND ECOLOGICAL PARADIGM FOR AN EVALUATION OF THE STATE OF SURFACE WATER STREAMS IN IMPACT ZONES PERTAINING TO THE TECHNOGENIC FORMATIONS OF THE ORE MINING INDUSTRY

V. A. Gromova, Olga Lipatnikova, T. V. Shestakova

Abstract

The surface water streams in the ore mining areas are subject to intense contamination with heavy metals and toxic elements. This type of pollution is a widespread problem nowadays. Detecting the geochemical patterns of the migration of heavy metals and toxic elements, together with their impact on natural environments, is a key aspect of ecological and geochemical research. This study is proposed in order to evaluate the state of the surface water streams in impact zones pertaining to the technogenic formations of the ore mining industry. The authors used as model the surface water streams in the impact zone of the abandoned tailing dump at the Urupsky Ore Mining, which performs treatment of copper-sulfide ores from the Urup deposit (Karachay-Cherkessia Republic, Russia). Different types of samples have been analyzed, including the wastes from the tailing dump, the water and the bottom sediments from a collection pond as the sources of the pollution, the soils from the dam as the natural geochemical barrier, and the water, the bottom sediments and the suspended particulate matter from the surface water streams in the impact zone of the abandoned tailing dump.

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