Abstract

The Odiel River Basin, located in the Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB), is heavily affected by acid mine drainage (AMD), which occurs when pyritic minerals from sulfide mining areas are exposed to atmospheric, hydrological or biological weathering. This paper presents a hydrochemical characterization of parameters in the Odiel River Basin by means of Fuzzy Logic and data mining methodologies to determine the seasonal influence of AMD in polluted waters that have not been used before for a basin in this environmental area. This technique was proven to be effective, providing results that could not be achieved by using classic statistics, because it allows us to characterize the different parameters separately and also their relationships in waters affected by AMD in a qualitative manner based on the antecedents and according to the conditions (rules) imposed by the consequents (in this case, the Fe(II) and accumulated rainfall over 30 days). Thus, it was possible to confirm that hydrochemistry is greatly affected by seasonal changes, with a higher pH in the wet season (up to 8.59) compared to 2.12, the minimum pH value reached in the dry season. Accordingly, higher concentrations of most of the metals were observed in the dry season (e.g., up to 4000 mg/L of Fe (II)), with the exception of the values found after the first rains that occur in the early fall. With the use of the Fuzzy Logic technique, it was observed that, during the wet season, lixiviates with a higher Fe content have higher metal concentrations, and in the dry season, the behavior is the opposite.

Highlights

  • Acid mine drainage (AMD) is one of the main environmental problems caused by the oxidation of sulfide-rich deposits after their extraction, when they are exposed to oxygen, water and biological weathering

  • This paper presents a new approach for characterizing the seasonal influence on the level of pollution and hydrochemical characteristics in an acid mine drainage (AMD)-affected river

  • The accumulated rainfall for 30 days prior to each sampling was used to study the seasonal variation in pollution

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Summary

Introduction

Acid mine drainage (AMD) is one of the main environmental problems caused by the oxidation of sulfide-rich deposits after their extraction, when they are exposed to oxygen, water and biological weathering. In many cases, mining waste can continue to affect the environment negatively for centuries after mine closure, contaminating the surrounding soil, surface water and groundwater [1,2,3]. Acid mine drainage is related to 4.0/).

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