Lithological and geochemical record of mining-induced changes in sediments from Macquarie Harbour, southwest Tasmania, Australia.

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dc.contributor.authorAugustinus, PCen_AU
dc.contributor.authorBarton, CEen_AU
dc.contributor.authorZawadzki, Aen_AU
dc.contributor.authorHarle, KJen_AU
dc.date.accessioned2010-08-04T23:57:14Zen_AU
dc.date.available2010-08-04T23:57:14Zen_AU
dc.date.issued2010-08en_AU
dc.date.statistics2010-08en_AU
dc.description.abstractMacquarie Harbour in southwest Tasmania, Australia, has been affected severely by the establishment of mines in nearby Queenstown in the 1890s. As well as heavy metal-laden acid rock drainage from the Mount Lyell mine area, over 100 Mt of mine tailings and slag were discharged into the Queen and Ring Rivers, with an estimated 10 Mt of mine tailings building a delta of ca. 2.5 km2 and ca. 10 Mt of fine tailings in the harbour beyond the delta. Coring of sediments throughout Macquarie Harbour indicated that mine tailings accreted most rapidly close to the King River delta source with a significant reduction in thickness of tailings and heavy metal contamination with increasing distance from the King River source. Close to the King River delta the mine tailings are readily discriminated from the background estuarine sediments on the basis of visual logging of the core (laminations, colour), sediment grain size, sediment magnetic susceptibility and elemental geochemistry, especially concentrations of the heavy metals Cu, Zn and Pb. The high heavy metal concentrations are demonstrated by the very high contamination factors (CF > 6) for Cu and Zn, with CF values mostly >50 for Cu for the mine-impacted sediments. Although the addition of mine waste into the King River catchment has ceased, the catchment continues to be a source of these heavy metals due to acid rock drainage and remobilisation of mine waste in storage in the river banks, river bed and delta. The addition of heavy metals to the harbour sourced from the Mount Lyell mines preceded the advent of direct tailings disposal into the Queen River in 1915 with the metals probably provided by acid rock drainage from the Mount Lyell mining area. © 2010, Springer.en_AU
dc.identifier.citationAugustinus, P., Barton, C. E., Zawadzki, A., & Harle, K. (2010). Lithological and geochemical record of mining-induced changes in sediments from Macquarie Harbour, southwest Tasmania, Australia. Environmental Earth Sciences, 61(3), 625-639. doi:10.1007/s12665-009-0377-xen_AU
dc.identifier.govdoc2201en_AU
dc.identifier.issn1866-6280en_AU
dc.identifier.issue3en_AU
dc.identifier.journaltitleEnvironmental Earth Sciencesen_AU
dc.identifier.pagination625-639en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12665-009-0377-xen_AU
dc.identifier.urihttp://apo.ansto.gov.au/dspace/handle/10238/2041en_AU
dc.identifier.volume61en_AU
dc.language.isoenen_AU
dc.publisherSpringeren_AU
dc.subjectTasmaniaen_AU
dc.subjectMinesen_AU
dc.subjectHeavy metalsen_AU
dc.subjectTailingsen_AU
dc.subjectRiversen_AU
dc.subjectSedimentationen_AU
dc.titleLithological and geochemical record of mining-induced changes in sediments from Macquarie Harbour, southwest Tasmania, Australia.en_AU
dc.typeJournal Articleen_AU
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