--> Abstract: Reactive Solute Transport Modeling of the Acid Mine Drainage Contamination in the Snow Fork of the Monday Creek Watershed, by K. C. Carroll; #90931 (1998).

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Abstract: Reactive Solute Transport Modeling of the Acid Mine Drainage Contamination in the Snow Fork of the Monday Creek Watershed

CARROLL, KENNETH C., Ohio University, Geological Sciences, Athens, OH

Monday Creek, a tributary to the Hocking River of southeastern Ohio, has been devastated by acid mine drainage. The Snow Fork of the Monday Creek watershed will be modeled to interpret the geochemical mass balance reactions between the initial and final waters along the hydrologic flow path. The purpose of this study is to investigate the processes of chemical dissolution and precipitation of minerals along the fluid path and the transport of dissolved chemical species.

The computer program PHREEQC will be used to model the one-dimensional flow and chemical reactions occurring in the system. The results will be compared with laboratory analyzed water and sediment compositions along the path. Synoptic water samples will be taken from ten sites starting above the Esco #40 Mine and continuing past the confluence of Monday Creek with the Hocking River during high and low flow, and analyzed for anions and cations using spectrophotometry and ICP. Conservative ion injection tracer tests will also be performed. Volumetric flow, dissolved oxygen, alkalinity, acidity, conductivity, and pH will be determined at each sampling point. Bed material will be sampled at each site and analyzed using XRD techniques.

The results of this study will be essential to the remediation of Monday Creek. This project will also contribute to the equitable exploitation of coal by increasing the understanding of the contaminant transport processes and environmental degradation due to coal mining. The conclusions of this study will aid remediation projects that will allow coal mining to become a more economic and environmentally sound industry.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90931©1998 AAPG Foundation Grants-in-Aid