Relationship Between Morphometric Stream Characteristics and Sediment Heavy Metal Pollution in a Mining-Influenced Watershed

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Soil Science, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

2 Department of Geography, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

Abstract

Streams located in watershed environments act as a principal component of transportation and reservoir of heavy metals evacuated by mining activities. This study evaluated the relationship between morphometric stream characteristics and variations in the rate of sediment heavy metal pollution in a mining-influenced watershed. The study area was a mining site located in the Anguran region, Zanjan province, Iran. Three rivers were selected that exhibited significant differences in terms of path length and slope. Approximately 1500 g sediment was collected from downstream positions of Kaka River (R1), Allah Lochay River (R2), and Shurab River (R3). Total zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and cadmium (Cd) concentrations and particle size distribution were measured. The pollution load index (PLI) and geo-Accumulation Index (Igeo) were then calculated. Based on the results, the sediment particle size distribution significantly decreased in response to an increase in the river length and slope (R1>R2>R3). Stream path length and slope are factors determining the size of bed particles transported by a river. The streams with longer path lengths and steeper slopes could transport finer fractions toward depositional positions. Further, the pollution level of the Kaka River sediment was the highest compared with other rivers. The highest Igeo value for the measured heavy metals was also observed in the Kaka River sediment, followed by the sediments of Allah Luchay and Shurab rivers. The regression results illustrated that the heavy metal concentrations were significantly positively correlated with clay and silt contents. These findings unequivocally showed that watershed environments exhibit a high vulnerability to mining activities because the streams can facilitate the transportation of sediment polluted by heavy metals across the landscape. On the other hand, the streams with higher length and slope surrounding mining sites increase the pollution transfer rate and cause a higher level of sediment heavy metal pollution.

Keywords

References

  1. Brooks, K. M., & Mahnken, C. V. 2003. Interactions of Atlantic salmon in the Pacific northwest environment: II. Organic wastes. Fisheries Research 62(3), 255-293.
  2. Duncan, A. E., de Vries, N., & Nyarko, K. B. 2018. Assessment of heavy metal pollution in the sediments of the River Pra and its tributaries. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 229(8), 1-10.
  3. Fei, J. C., Min, X. B., Wang, Z. X., Pang, Z. H., Liang, Y. J., & Ke, Y. 2017. Health and ecological risk assessment of heavy metals pollution in an antimony mining region: a case study from South China. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 24(35), 27573-27586.
  4. Gee, G. W., & Bauder, W. 1986. Particle-size analysis. In D. L. Sparks (Ed.), Methods of soil analysis. Part 1: Physical and mineralogical methods (pp. 383–409). Madison: Soil Science Society of America.
  5. Gyamfi, E., Appiah-Adjei, E. K., & Adjei, K. A. 2019. Potential heavy metal pollution of soil and water resources from artisanal mining in Kokoteasua, Ghana. Groundwater for Sustainable Development 8, 450-456.
  6. He, K., Sun, Z., Hu, Y., Zeng, X., Yu, Z., & Cheng, H. 2017. Comparison of soil heavy metal pollution caused by e-waste recycling activities and traditional industrial operations. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 24(10), 9387-9398.
  7. He, D., Shi, X., & Wu, D. 2016. Particle-size distribution characteristics and pollution of heavy metals in the surface sediments of Kuitun River in Xinjiang, China. Environmental Earth Sciences 75(2), 104.
  8. Kalantzi, I., Shimmield, T. M., Pergantis, S. A., Papageorgiou, N., Black, K. D., & Karakassis, I. 2013. Heavy metals, trace elements and sediment geochemistry at four Mediterranean fish farms. Science of the Total Environment 444, 128-137.
  9. Lin, Y., Ma, J., Zhang, Z., Zhu, Y., Hou, H., Zhao, L., ... & Shi, H. 2018. Linkage between human population and trace elements in soils of the Pearl River Delta: Implications for source identification and risk assessment. Science of the Total Environment 610, 944-950.
  10. Lu, J., Lu, H., Lei, K., Wang, W., & Guan, Y. 2019. Trace metal element pollution of soil and water resources caused by small-scale metallic ore mining activities: a case study from a sphalerite mine in North China. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 26(24), 24630-24644.
  11. Liao, G. L., Liao, D. X., & Li, Q. M. 2008. Heavy metals contamination characteristics in soil of different mining activity zones. Transactions of Nonferrous Metals Society of China 18(1), 207-211.
  12. Majumder, R. K., Faisal, B. M. R., Zaman, M. N., Uddin, M. J., & Sultana, N. 2015. Assessment of heavy metals pollution in bottom sediment of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, Bangladesh by multivariate statistical analysis. Int Res J Environ Sci 4(5), 80-84.
  13. Mao, G., Zhao, Y., Zhang, F., Liu, J., & Huang, X. 2019. Spatiotemporal variability of heavy metals and identification of potential source tracers in the surface water of the Lhasa River basin. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 26(8), 7442-7452.
  14. Marrugo-Negrete, J., Pinedo-Hernández, J., & Díez, S. 2017. Assessment of heavy metal pollution, spatial distribution and origin in agricultural soils along the Sinú River Basin, Colombia. Environmental research 154, 380-388.
  15. Muller, G. 1981. The heavy metal pollution of the sediments of Neckars and its tributary. A stocktaking. Chem. Zenith. 105, 157-164.
  16. Awosusi, O.O; Adisa, A. L. 2020. Geochemical assessment of heavy metal pollution of river basin in Nigeria using stream sediment. International Journal of Advanced Geosciences 8(1), 1-10.
  17. Pyrce, R. S., & Ashmore, P. E. 2003. The relation between particle path length distributions and channel morphology in gravel-bed streams: a synthesis. Geomorphology 56(1-2), 167-187.
  18. Pu, W., Sun, J., Zhang, F., Wen, X., Liu, W., & Huang, C. 2019. Effects of copper mining on heavy metal contamination in a rice agrosystem in the Xiaojiang River Basin, southwest China. Acta Geochimica 38(5), 753-773.
  19. Siddiqui, E., & Pandey, J. 2019. Assessment of heavy metal pollution in water and surface sediment and evaluation of ecological risks associated with sediment contamination in the Ganga River: a basin-scale study. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 26(11), 10926-10940.
  20. Soares, H. M., Boaventura, R. A. R., & Esteves da Silva, J.1999. Sediments as monitors of heavy metal contamination in the Ave River Basin (Portugal): Multivariate Analysis of Data. Environmental Pollution, Vol. 105, p. 311 –323.
  21. Sojka, M., Jaskuła, J., & Siepak, M. 2019. Heavy metals in bottom sediments of reservoirs in the lowland area of western Poland: concentrations, distribution, sources and ecological risk. Water 11(1), 56.
  22. Roussiez, V., Ludwig, W., Probst, J. L., & Monaco, A. 2005. Background levels of heavy metals in surficial sediments of the Gulf of Lions (NW Mediterranean): an approach based on 133Cs normalization and lead isotope measurements. Environmental Pollution 138(1), 167-177.
  23. Sarkar, S. K., Frančišković-Bilinski, S., Bhattacharya, A., Saha, M., & Bilinski, H. 2004. Levels of elements in the surficial estuarine sediments of the Hugli River, northeast India and their environmental implications. Environment international 30(8), 1089-1098.
  24. Sun, Z., Xie, X., Wang, P., Hu, Y., & Cheng, H. 2018. Heavy metal pollution caused by small-scale metal ore mining activities: A case study from a polymetallic mine in South China. Science of the Total Environment 639, 217-227.
  25. Sun, Z., Xie, X., Wang, P., Hu, Y., & Cheng, H. 2018. Heavy metal pollution caused by small-scale metal ore mining activities: A case study from a polymetallic mine in South China. Science of the Total Environment 639, 217-227.
  26. Omwene, P. I., Öncel, M. S., Çelen, M., & Kobya, M. 2018. Heavy metal pollution and spatial distribution in surface sediments of Mustafakemalpaşa stream located in the world's largest borate basin (Turkey). Chemosphere 208, 782-792.
  27. Wu, W., Qu, S., Nel, W., & Ji, J. 2020. The impact of natural weathering and mining on heavy metal accumulation in the karst areas of the Pearl River Basin, China. Science of The Total Environment 734, 139480.
  28. Zhuang, P., Zhi-An, L. I., Bi, Z., Han-Ping, X. I. A., & Gang, W. A. N. G. 2013. Heavy metal contamination in soil and soybean near the Dabaoshan Mine, South China. Pedosphere 23(3), 298-304.
  29. Zhang, C., Wang, L., Li, G., Dong, S., Yang, J., & Wang, X. 2002. Grain size effect on multi-element concentrations in sediments from the intertidal flats of Bohai Bay, China. Applied Geochemistry 17(1), 59-68.
  30. Zhang, Y., Shi, T., Yu, T., & Zhang, Y. 2013. Sediment particle size and the distribution of heavy metals in the typical districts of Dianchi Lake. Research of Environmental Sciences 26(4), 370-379.
  31. Zhao, X. R., Nasier, T., Cheng, Y. Y., Zhan, J. Y., & Yang, J. H. 2014. Environmental geochemical baseline of heavy metals in soils of the Ili River Basin and pollution evaluation. Huanjing kexue 35(6), 2392-2400.
Journal of Hydrosciences and Environment
Volume 4, Issue 7
June 2020
Pages 35-42

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics