Defining the Extent of Mine-Influenced Groundwater in a Mineralized and Agricultural Area Using Multiple Lines of Evidence

Defining the Extent of Mine-Influenced Groundwater in a Mineralized and Agricultural Area Using Multiple Lines of Evidence

Mine-influenced groundwater (MIW) at a former copper mine site has affected an alluvial aquifer that also contains groundwater with solutes characteristic of natural mineralization and agricultural activities. Many of the solutes are common to at least two of three potential sources, and some solute...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Mine water and the environment Vol. 42; no. 1; pp. 78 - 97
Main Authors: McCulley, Bryan, Andrews, Charles, Johnson, Brian, Riese, Arthur C., Jonas, Jim
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-03-2023
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:
Agriculture
Alluvial aquifers
Aquifers
Copper
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Ecotoxicology
Environmental protection
Geology
Groundwater
Groundwater data
Groundwater mining
Hydrogeology
Industrial Pollution Prevention
Isotopes
Mineral Resources
Mineralization
Mining
Multivariate analysis
Multivariate statistical analysis
Ponds
Rivers
Solutes
Statistical analysis
Statistical methods
Sulfur
Sulfur isotopes
Sulphur
Surface water
Technical Article
Uranium
Water quality
Water Quality/Water Pollution
Water supply
Lake Lahontan
United States > US
Nevada
Multivariate statistical analysis
Groundwater age dating
Sulfur isotopes
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Summary:Mine-influenced groundwater (MIW) at a former copper mine site has affected an alluvial aquifer that also contains groundwater with solutes characteristic of natural mineralization and agricultural activities. Many of the solutes are common to at least two of three potential sources, and some solutes (e.g., sulfate and uranium) are common to all three. This precludes the conventional use of one, or several, characteristic solutes to identify the extent of MIW. So, we used five independent lines of evidence (LOE) to define the extent of MIW in the alluvial aquifer. The five LOE are multivariate statistical analysis of an extensive groundwater analyte suite, groundwater sulfur isotope (δ 34 S SO4 ) data, probabilistic calculations of groundwater velocity and flow distance, isotopic ( 3 H/ 3 He) estimates of groundwater age, and extent of nitrate in groundwater originating from agricultural activities.
ISSN:1025-9112
1616-1068
DOI:10.1007/s10230-023-00924-8