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- Title
Chemical remobilization of contaminant metals within floodplain sediments in an incising river system: implications for dating and chemostratigraphy
- Authors
Vaughan, D. J.; Curtis, C. D.; Hudson-Edwards, K. A.; Macklin, M. G.
- Abstract
Metals such as Pb, Zn, Cd and Cu from historical mining activity have been used as stratigraphic markers for dating and provenancing vertically accreted, fine-grained floodplain overbank deposits. This study presents evidence for chemical remobilization of these metals within overbank sediments in the Tyne basin, UK. The evidence includes: breakdown of metal-bearing minerals (sulphides, carbonates, iron and manganese oxyhydroxides); shifts of chemical fractions within zones of relatively low pH towards more soluble and reactive phases; and accumulation of secondary iron and manganese oxyhydroxides at levels related to fluctuating water-table levels or to the breakdown of organic matter. All of this suggests that fine, centimetre-scale, chemostratigraphy using metal concentrations and ratios is unlikely to provide reliable data in river systems that have experienced, or are experiencing, major changes in water-table levels, or pedogenesis. Coarse tens of centimetre- to metre-scale, chemostratigraphy, when applied with caution, may still provide a means of delineating contaminated units.
- Subjects
GEOMORPHOLOGY; HEAVY metals; SCANNING electron microscopy; GEOCHEMISTRY
- Publication
Earth Surface Processes & Landforms, 1998, Vol 23, Issue 8, p671
- ISSN
0197-9337
- Publication type
Article