Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publisher
International Mine Water Association
Faculty
Faculty of Computing, Health and Science
School
School of Natural Sciences / Centre for Ecosystem Management
RAS ID
14121
Abstract
Breach and subsequent decant of an acidic brackish pit lake in the Collie Coal region in south-western Australia occurred during flooding of a pre-mining diverted eutrophic river. Inflowing fresher river water with high alkalinity and nutrient concentrations settled over more saline and acidic pit lake water. This created a halocline with better mixoliminion water quality and monimolimnion water quality typical of the pre-breach lake. Flow-through may represent the best long-term mine closure option for this and other pit lakes in the state and internationally where pit lake water quality degrades over time when excised from regional water systems.
Access Rights
free_to_read
Comments
This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of: Mccullough, C. D., Radhakrishnan, N. K., Lund, M. A., Newport, M. L., Ballot, E., & Short, D. (2012). Riverine breach and subsequent decant of an acidic pit lake: evaluating the effects of riverine flow-through on lake stratification and chemistry. Proceedings of International Mine Water Association (IMWA) Conference. (pp. 533-540). Bunbury, Australia. International Mine Water Association. Available here