Watershed Contamination from Hard Rock Mining
Watersheds affected by active and/or abandoned hard rock mining (HRM) often have hundreds of mining-related sites with
little information on their relative significance as sources of metals contamination and acid mine drainage. Furthermore,
natural weathering of the geologic deposits, which are sought out for metal deposits, can be a source of contamination even
in the absence of mining activities. The nature of such distributed natural and anthropogenic sources makes a traditional
site by site cleanup approach grossly inefficient and likely ineffective.
The overall goal of HRM research is to provide improved information and tools to support decisions related to management,
risk assessment, remediation planning, and mitigation of the anthropogenic effects of mine drainage on the surrounding
watersheds and ecosystems. The principal research objectives are to a) characterize hydrologic and biogeochemical processes
that affect dispersal of metals and associated contaminants and b) describe contaminant pathways to organisms. Current
research expands on previous Toxic Substances Hydrology (Toxics) Program hard rock research by including investigations
across broader temporal and spatial scales and by integrating research on bioaccumulation and the effects of metal
contamination on organisms with investigations on biogeochemical and hydrologic processes that affect transport and fate of
metals in streams and near-stream ground-water systems. Two guiding principles of the research are (1) interdisciplinary
coordination to integrate all factors and processes that control the affects of HRM on watersheds and ecosystems from source
to receptors, and (2) synthesis of interdisciplinary knowledge across scales to make relevant to the practical management
decision making, including liaison with land management agencies for technology transfer and effective identification of
science needs.
Project activities are undertaken in watersheds with various types of climate, hydrogeology and mining techniques:
Hardrock Mining in Rocky Mountain Terrain -- Upper Arkansas
River, Colorado
Hardrock Mining in Southwest Alluvial Basins -- Pinal Creek,
Arizona
Ground-Water Contamination by Heavy Metals -- Tar Creek,
Oklahoma
USGS Abandoned Mine Lands Initiative -- Upper Animas River
Watershed, Colorado, and Boulder River Watershed, Montana
Arsenic Contamination from Hard Rock Mining -- Whitewood
Creek-Belle Fourche River, South Dakota [Completed]
The Summitville Mine and its Downstream Effects
[Completed]
Program Headlines on Hard Rock Mining Related Research
Other Program Hard Rock Mining Research
Fact Sheets
New Publications
Upcoming Publications
- Metal contamination and post-remediation recovery in the Boulder River watershed, Jefferson County, Montana: Unruh, D.M., Church, S.E., Fey, D.L., and Nimick, D.A., Geochemistry--Exploration, Environment, Analysis (IN PRESS).
- One-dimensional transport with equilibrium chemistry (OTEQ)--A reactive transport model for streams and rivers: Runkel, R.L., U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods book 6, chapter B6 (IN PRESS).
- Topographic controls on hillslope-riparian-stream water table continuity in a set of nested catchments, Northern Rocky Mountains, Montana: Jencso, K., McGlynn, B., Gooseff , M.N., Bencala, K.E., and Wondzell, S.M., Water Resources Research (IN PRESS).
- Interpretation of a transient storage model of stream solute transport applied to overlapping spatial scales: Gooseff, M.N., Briggs, M.A., Bencala, K.E., McGlynn, B.L., and Scott, D.T., Limnology and Oceanography--Methods (IN PRESS).
- The use of fluoride as a natural tracer and the relationship to geologic features--Examples from the Animas River Watershed, San Juan Mountains, Colorado: Bove, D.J., Walton-Day, K., and Kimball, B.A., Geochemistry--Exploration, Environment, and Analysis (IN PRESS).
Newly Published
- Acid rock drainage and climate change: Nordstrom, D.K., 2009, Journal of Geochemical Exploration, v. 100, no. 2-3, p. 97-104, doi:10.1016/j.gexplo.2008.08.002.
- Naturally acidic surface and ground waters draining porphyry-related mineralized areas of the Southern Rocky Mountains, Colorado and New Mexico: Verplanck, P.L., Nordstrom, D.K., Bove, D.J., Plumlee, G.S., and Runkel, R.L., 2009, Applied Geochemistry, v. 24, no. 2, p. 255-267, doi:10.1016/j.apgeochem.2008.11.014.
- Environmental factors affecting mercury in Camp Far West Reservoir, 2001-03: Alpers, C.N., Stewart, A.R., Saiki, M.K., Marvin-DiPasquale, M., Topping, B.R., Rider, K.M., Gallanthine, S.K., Kester, C.A., Rye, R.O., Antweiler, R.C., and DeWild, J.F., 2008, U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2006-5008, 358 p.
- Eulerian-Lagrangian numerical scheme for simulating advection, dispersion, and transient storage in streams and a comparison of numerical methods: Cox, T.J., and Runkel, R.L., 2008, Journal of Environmental Engineering, v. 134, no. 12, p. 996-1005, doi:10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9372(2008)134:12(996).
- Naturally acidic surface and ground waters draining porphyry-related mineralized areas of the Southern Rocky Mountains, Colorado and New Mexico: Verplanck, P.L., Nordstrom, D.K., Bove, D.J., Plumlee, G.S., and Runkel, R.L., 2009, Applied Geochemistry, v. 24, no. 2, p. 255-267, doi:10.1016/j.apgeochem.2008.11.014.
- Diel changes in metal concentrations in a geogenically acidic river--Rio Agrio, Argentina: Parker, S.R., Gammons, C.H., Pedrozo, F.L., and Wood, S.A., 2008, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, v. 178, no. 2, p. 213-223, doi:10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2008.06.029.
- Influence of plankton mercury dynamics and trophic pathways on mercury concentrations of top predator fish of a mining-impacted reservoir: Stewart, A.R., Saiki, M.K., Kuwabara, J.S., Alpers, C.N., Marvin-DiPasquale, M., and Krabbenhoft, D.P., 2008, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, v. 65, no. 11, p. 2,351-2,366.
Links to other USGS Information on Hard Rock Mining Contamination
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