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GOLD‐MINING EFFECTS ON STREAM HYDROLOGY AND WATER QUALITY, CIRCLE QUADRANGLE, ALASKA 1
Author(s) -
Bjerklie David M.,
LaPerriere Jacqueline D.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
jawra journal of the american water resources association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.957
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1752-1688
pISSN - 1093-474X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-1688.1985.tb00133.x
Subject(s) - streams , water quality , subsurface flow , turbidity , hydrology (agriculture) , surface water , alkalinity , total dissolved solids , nitrate , placer mining , environmental science , sediment , geology , groundwater , environmental engineering , chemistry , geochemistry , ecology , oceanography , geomorphology , computer network , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry , computer science , biology
Effects of placer mining on the hydrology and water quality of several interior Alaska streams were studied as part of a project on the impacts of placer mining on stream ecosystems. Surface and subsurface waters were analyzed in the field for conductivity, pH, temperature, alkalinity, total and calcium hardnesses, iron, copper, manganese, ammonia‐N, nitrate‐N, nitrite‐N, settleable solids, and turbidity. Total, nonfiltrable, and filtrable residues were determined in the laboratory. In the streams placer mining increased turbidity, settleable solids, nonfiltrable and filtrable residues and total iron. Surface and subsurface water levels, as measured in wells driven in the stream beds, were correlated with stream flow. Fine sediment deposited on stream beds in mined drainages reduced the hydraulic contact between the surface and subsurface waters of the stream and caused the piezometric water level to be below the surface water level of the mined streams. This resulted in higher specific conductance and significantly lower dissolved oxygen concentrations in the subsurface waters of mined streams compared to their surface waters. No significant differences were found for any water quality characteristics comparing surface to subsurface waters for the unmined streams.