Biogeochemical impact of historical submarine mine tailings on benthic ecosystems in the Repparfjord (Northern Norway)

Hoff, Marie; Argentino, Claudio; Huljek, Laura; Fiket, Željka; Mun, Yulia; Angeles, Ines Barrenechea; Palinkas, Sabina Strmic; Panieri, Giuliana (2024) Biogeochemical impact of historical submarine mine tailings on benthic ecosystems in the Repparfjord (Northern Norway). Science of The Total Environment, 924 . ISSN 0048-9697

PDF - Published Version - article Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (4MB)

Abstract

Historical copper mine tailings deposited in the Repparfjord, Northern Norway, provided new insight into the biogeochemical impact of submarine tailings disposals on high-latitude coastal ecosystems. The submarine tailings disposal in the Repparfjord represents a product of mining activities between 1972 and 1979. Their environmental impact has been extensively studied during the last decade, but geochemistry of the sediment pore water, which is crucial to assess and monitor the in-situ metal leaching and bioavailability, has never been analysed. The actual impact on the benthic fauna remains poorly known. Therefore, this study couples the pore water chemistry and the foraminiferal analysis obtained from selected sediment cores (gravity core, multicore, box cores) to examine metal stability and the past and current status of the foraminifera community. We measured down-core sulfate and trace metal concentrations and Eh-Ph and applied the Shannon index, the AZTI's Marine Biotic Index (F-AMBI) index and the foraminiferal abnormality index. This study confirms the ongoing leaching of Cu from the underlying mine tailings and release across the sediment-water interface. Leaching of Ni, Zn and Pb have been attributed to weathering of natural bedrock lithologies. The original benthic foraminiferal community disappeared almost entirely during the disposal period, and now it is dominated by stress-tolerant and opportunistic species like Bulimina marginata and Spiroplectammina biformis. Anyhow, against previous assumptions, the community composition changed, while the overall diversity and abnormalities (FAI) shell formation is unaffected by elevated Cu concentrations.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	submarine tailings disposal; copper; pore water chemistry; metal leaching; benthic foraminifera; environmental quality status
Subjects:	NATURAL SCIENCES > Geology NATURAL SCIENCES > Interdisciplinary Natural Sciences
Divisions:	Division for Marine and Enviromental Research
Depositing User:	Diana Mikoč Radešić
Date Deposited:	01 Aug 2024 11:03
URI:	http://fulir.irb.hr/id/eprint/8992
DOI:	10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171468

Actions (login required)

View Item