Nordstrom Gives Keynote Address on Effects of Seasonal and Climatic Change on Water Quality from Acid Rock Drainage in the Western United States

Dr. D. Kirk Nordstrom, a U.S. Geological Survey scientist, gave the keynote address "Effects of Seasonal and Climatic Change on Water Quality from Acid Rock Drainage in the Western United States" at the 2007 International Mine Water Association (IMWA) Symposium, Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy, May 27-31, 2007. Dr. Nordstrom conducts research on the geochemical modeling of major and trace elements in acid mine waters and ground waters. Dr. Nordstrom also served on the symposium's international advisory board.

Keynote Address

Dr. Nordstrom's keynote address, "Effects of Seasonal and Climatic Change on Water Quality From Acid Rock Drainage in the Western United States," presented results on the sudden increase in acid and metal concentrations in streams during the early part of storm events at several mine sites in the western United States, and discussed the implications of these results for global warming.

Abstract: Rainfall events cause both increases and decreases in acid and metal concentrations and their loadings from mine wastes, and unmined mineralized areas, into receiving streams in the western United States. Concentrations gradually increase during long dry periods and sudden large increases in concentrations are observed during the rising limb of the discharge following dry periods. By the time the discharge peak has occurred, concentrations have usually decreased, often to levels below those of pre-storm conditions, and then concentrations slowly rise again during the next dry period. These dynamic changes in concentrations and loadings are related to the dissolution of soluble salts and the flushing of waters that were concentrated by evaporation. These observations can be generalized to predict future conditions caused by droughts related to El Niño and climate change associated with global warming. Already, summer dry periods are lengthening in the western U.S. and rainstorms are less frequent and more intense when they occur. Consequently, flushing of inactive mine sites will tend to cause larger sudden increases in concentrations that will pose an increasing danger to aquatic life. Higher average concentrations will also tend to occur during longer low-flow periods. The predicted effects of global climate change suggest that remediation efforts will have to increase the capacity of engineered designs to deal with more extreme conditions, not average conditions of previous years.

More Information on Dr. Nordstrom's Research

• Chemical Modeling and Thermodynamic Data Evaluation of Major and Trace Elements in Acid Mine Waters and Ground Waters
• Chemical Modeling of Acid Waters

General Conference Information

• Conference Home Page
• Symposium Agenda (pdf)

Onter USGS Presentations at the 2007 IMWA Symposium

• Quantification of changes in metal loading from storm runoff, Merse River (Tuscany, Italy), by B.A. Kimball, F. Bianchi, K. Walton-Day, R.L. Runkel, M. Nannucci and A. Salvadori
• Elevated arsenic in ground water, Ester Dome (Alaska), by P.L. Verplanck, S.H. Mueller, R.J. Goldfarb and D. K. Nordstrom

Toxic Substances Hydrology Program Research on Contamination from Mining Activities

• Watershed Contamination from Hard-Rock Mining Research Projects
• Hard Rock Mining Contamination in Rocky Mountain Terrain -- Upper Arkansas River, Colorado
• Hard Rock Mining Contamination in Arid Southwest Alluvial Basins -- Pinal Creek, Arizona
• Coupled Transport and Geochemical Processes Determining the Fate of Chemicals in Surface Waters
• Arsenic Contamination from Hard Rock Mining -- Whitewood Creek-Belle Fourche River - Cheyenne River System, Western South Dakota [Completed]
• Summitville Mine and its Downstream Effects
• Ground-Water Contamination by Heavy Metals -- Tar Creek, Oklahoma
• USGS Abandoned Mine Lands Initiative

Related Headlines

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• Importance and Causes of Daily Variation in Metal Concentrations in Streams
• Multidisciplinary Approach to Remediating Watersheds Contaminated from Abandoned Mine Lands
• Daily Variation of Metals in Streams Can Confound Scientific Studies
• USGS Develops New Field Method for Detecting Chromium VI in Ground Water
• Handbook on Permeable Reactive Barriers Published - The handbook gives guidance on the use of permeable reactive barriers to remediate radionuclide, trace metal, and nutrient contamination.
• Nature's Way of Cleaning Up Mining-Contaminated Streams
• Cleaning up Contamination in Hard Rock Mine Lands
• Tracer Tests Steer Cleanup of Mined Watersheds

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