Environmental Impact Assessment and Reclamation Of Marl Quarry Dumps

Author(s):  A.V. Alekseenko, Saint Petersburg Mining University, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, alekseenko_av@pers.spmi.ru

C. Drebenstedt, Dr., Prof., Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg, Freiberg, Germany

Issue:  Volume 42, № 3

Rubric:  Earth sciences

Annotation:  The environmental impact of abandoned marl quarry dumps was assessed in the city of Novorossiysk at the Black sea coast of the Northwestern Caucasus (Krasnodar Krai, Russia). Portland cement has been produced there since 1882 and dumps of overburden rocks and off-grade marl have been formed at the northeastern slope of the Markoth Range as a result of longtime open-cast mining of the raw material. The conducted ecological investigation included dust content measurements (PM1–PM10); soil, rock and dust sampling; analytical study of chemical composition of the specimens by spectral emission analysis and atomic-emission spectrometry with inductively coupled plasma. It was found that fugitive dust emission from abandoned dumps led to accumulation of a multi-element lithogeochemical anomaly of Pb, Zn, Cu, Ba and Sr. Considering dumps as a key source of dust in the atmospheric air, the following reclamation measures are proposed. At the technical stage, slopes of the dumps will be covered with a three-dimensional erosion control mat. The subsequent hydroseeding will allow ensuring complete coverage of the slope surface with grass in a short time and at the lowest cost

Keywords:  soil pollution, geochemical exploration, mine dumps, land restoration, ecological zoning

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