Abstract
This study analyses the distribution of the total metal(loid)s content accumulated in the sediments of the Grande River, the most important river course that runs through the old mining district of La Carolina (Jaén, Spain), whose waters are collected in an urban supply reservoir. In total, 102 sediments samples were taken along the river, 51 in the live-bed channel and another 51 in the floodplain. The samples analysed have high metal(loid)s content, sometimes much higher than the reference levels established by European and regional legislation for soils, especially Pb, As and Ba, with average values of 5452 mg/kg, 116 mg/kg and 2622 mg/kg, respectively. The statistical analysis of the values obtained allows the distribution of the contents of the different elements along the river to be characterized and the associations and dispersion patterns in the sediments of the metal(loid)s coming from the environmental liabilities of the numerous dumpsites and tailings dams generated by mining activity to be defined. In both cases, the high metal(loid)s content identified as well as the resulting values of various environmental indices (the enrichment factor, contamination factor, geoaccumulation index, potential ecological risk index and pollution load index), confirmed that the sediment samples were moderately to highly contaminated over extensive areas of the basin studied, with the greatest intensity and extent in the floodplain sediments.
Highlights
At the end of the last century, the mineral reserves of many deposits were depleted, causing a metal price crisis that led to the closure of many mining operations worldwide
The main transport agent is water, both by infiltration and erosion in tailings deposits and by drainage of mining holes [4]. This has been demonstrated by the Environment Agency of England and Wales in the rivers that flow through old mining districts in the United Kingdom, where after more than 4000 years, the rivers have been contaminated by Geosciences 2020, 10, 391; doi:10.3390/geosciences10100391
Zn) in the 102 samples collected in the live-bed channel and in the floodplain (Table 1) were analysed
Summary
At the end of the last century, the mineral reserves of many deposits were depleted, causing a metal price crisis that led to the closure of many mining operations worldwide. Geosciences 2020, 10, 391 lead, zinc and copper and many other metals and metalloids, including iron, tin, arsenic and silver, from dumpsites and tailings dams that have contributed solid contaminants to live-bed channels and Geosciences 2020, 10, x FOR PEER REVIEW floodplains of the rivers for decades after their closure [2,4,5,6] This has been evident in other mining districts of the [7,8,9,10,11,12].of the rivers for decades after their closure [2,4,5,6].
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