U.S. Geological Survey Toxic Substances Hydrology Program--Proceedings
of the Technical Meeting, Colorado Springs, Colorado, September 20-24, 1993,
Water-Resources Investigations Report 94-4015
Alteration of Alluvium by Acidic Ground Water Resulting from
Copper Mining at Pinal Creek, Arizona
by
Carol J. Lind (U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, Calif.) and
Kenneth G. Stollenwerk (U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colo.)
Abstract
A composited core of alluvium collected downgradient from a metal-rich,
acidic ground-water plume was eluted with ground water from the plume in
a column experiment.
The major minerals present in the alluvium before and after elution were
identified, and resulting changes in mineral content and in ground-water
composition were correlated. Of the 12 identified minerals, the ground water
dissolved two carbonate minerals and pyrolusite and partially dissolved
the feldspars.
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