Physico-chemical gradients and meromictic stratification in Cueva de la Mora and other acidic pit lakes of the Iberian Pyrite Belt

Abstract

A marked vertical trend of increasing temperature and dissolved metal concentrations is observed in the monimolimnia of some meromictic pit lakes of the Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB) in SW Spain. Temperature differences between the chemocline and the pit lake bottom can be as high as 15°C (e.g. Herrerias), and the respective concentration of some metals (e.g. Fe) and metalloids (e.g. As) can increase by several orders of magnitude (e.g. Cueva de la Mora). The redox conditions also change drastically from the upper and oxygenated mixolimnion (strongly oxidizing) to the lower and anoxic monimolimnion (moderately reducing). Processes such as the inflow of metal–sulphate laden ground water from flooded shafts and galleries, and other factors such as the pit geometry or the relative depth of the lakes, must be considered to account for the observed stratification pattern. The vertical profiles of physico-chemical parameters and water chemistry obtained in Cueva de la Mora and other meromictic pit lakes of the IPB are also compatible with a reactive bottom in which several geochemical and microbial reactions (including reductive dissolution of Fe3+ minerals, bacterial reduction of Fe3+ and SO42− in pore waters within the sediments, and decomposition of organic matter) could be taking place.