Sediment Transport, Artisanal Gold Mining, and the Evaluation of Potential Mercury Contamination in Madre de Dios, Peru
Date
2014-04-25
Author
Advisors
Marani, Marco
Pan, William
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Abstract
In the last several decades, artisanal mining in Madre de Dios, Peru has grown at
an exponential rate. The lack of regulation of mining practices and the use of mercury
in the gold extraction process has culminated in a human and environmental health
risk. Mining practices in Madre de Dios have led to deforestation as well as detrimental
health effects in humans. It has also led to mercury contaminated soil that is then
transported downriver. This study uses mathematical modeling and geographic information
systems (GIS) to better understand sediment transport and quantify potentially contaminated
soil transport through a detachment model for the entire Madre de Dios watershed.
The model considers spatially‐distributed rainfall, leaf area index, topographic slope,
and grain size and determines the spatial patterns of sediment erosion and deposition.
The model estimates that erosion has increased 13.1tons/km2/year due to artisanal
gold mining, demonstrating that it has had a notable impact at the whole‐watershed
scale. However, the environmental impact on the sub‐watershed of Huepetuhe, where
much of the gold mining is occurring, is even more substantial, with an additional
840,175 tons/year of sediment being eroded from the areas most affected by mercury
contamination. Most of this erosion consists of finer grain sizes that are associated
with natural mercury levels and the ability to transport adsorbed mercury. The results
overall suggest that mercury from natural or anthropogenic sources could be readily
transported downriver and provide indications as to where the resulting mercury contamination
may be more severe.
Type
Master's projectPermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/8552Citation
Berky, Axel (2014). Sediment Transport, Artisanal Gold Mining, and the Evaluation of Potential Mercury
Contamination in Madre de Dios, Peru. Master's project, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/8552.Collections
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