Monitoring manganese diagenesis in a constructed wetland using continuous gradient gels

Conference · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1992 · Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States)

OSTI ID:6109974

Edenborn, H M; Brickett, L A; Dvorak, D H ^[1]; Edenborn, S L ^[2]

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1. Bureau of Mines, Pittsburgh, PA (United States). Pittsburgh Research Center
2. Kent State Univ., OH (United States). Dept. of Biology

Constructed wetlands are used by coal mining companies to lower concentrations of dissolved Fe and Mn and reduce the cost of treating mine drainage chemically. Biological activity in wetlands assists in the removal of these metals by mediating their oxidation and reduction, and the intensity of these reactions is influenced strongly by seasonal fluctuations in wetlands have been developed empirically based on field observations, but few details are known about the spatial and temporal variation in Mn diagenesis within these wetlands. Biological activity within wetland sediments is known to be very heterogeneous, due in part to the complex composition of the composted organic materials used in wetland construction. This heterogeneity makes it difficult to assess the importance of specific diagenetic processes without taking large numbers of samples at great expense. In this study, continuous gradient gels (CGGs) were used to evaluate metal diagenesis spatially and seasonally within the sediments of a constructed wetland in northwestern PA receiving coal mine drainage. The CGGs were inexpensive to construct and were easy to deploy in the field. CGGs provided rapid and detailed information in the regions of stability of Mn oxides within the wetland sediment. The resulting data were mapped and used to assess the overall efficiency of constructed wetland design and the impact of Mn diagenesis in wetlands used to treat coal mine drainage.

• OSTI ID: 6109974
• Report Number(s): CONF-921058--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States) Journal Volume: 24:7
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010800* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Waste Management
ACID MINE DRAINAGE
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
BIODEGRADATION
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COAL MINES
DECOMPOSITION
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
DIAGENESIS
ECOSYSTEMS
ELEMENTS
MANAGEMENT
MANGANESE
MANGANESE COMPOUNDS
MANGANESE OXIDES
METALS
MINES
MONITORING
NORTH AMERICA
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PENNSYLVANIA
PROCESSING
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
UNDERGROUND FACILITIES
USA
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WETLANDS