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Biological impacts and recovery from marine disposal of metal mining waste Item Type Thesis Authors Kline, Edward R. Download date 28/09/2021 00:36:26 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/11122/9485 INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted.Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note wUl indicate the deletion. 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BIOLOGICAL IMPACTS AND RECOVERY FROM MARINE DISPOSAL OF METAL MINING WASTE A THESIS Presented to the Faculty of the University of Alaska Fairbanks in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By Edward R. Kline, B.A., M.S. Juneau, Alaska May 1998 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 9838837 UMI Microform 9838837 Copyright 1998, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. 300 UMINorth Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. BIOLOGICAL IMPACTS AND RECOVERY FROM MARINE DISPOSAL OF METAL MINING WASTE By Edward R. Kline RECOMMENDED: A . /)/Ks V \r-\ jfT-W, c S ~ . ‘ 2 , .... Advisorv CJommittee Chair ** 11 gUJt.. _ DivlsionLCirector APPROVED: _____ Dean, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences D^arf of the Graduate School 6 ' tC ’ f Date Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. iii Abstract Waste from coastal, metal mining operations may be disposed of in the ocean. Studies were conducted using tailings and wastewater (effluent) from a proposed gold mine that is located near Juneau, Alaska, USA. The ability of invertebrates to colonize tailings after obliteration by submarine tailings disposal (STD) was assessed through a field experiment. Trays of tailings and reference sediment were placed on the sea floor and retrieved over a 22 month period. The taxonomic composition, abundance, and biomass of invertebrates that colonized tailings and reference sediment were similar. Therefore, recolonization of invertebrates after obliteration by STD should not be inhibited by the presence of these tailings as a bottom substrate. In a laboratory study, the toxicity of effluent from the milling process was compared for early life stage fish and crustaceans. Common reference species and species that are indigenous to southern Alaska were exposed to effluent. The relationship between effluent concentration and organism response was established for immobilization, paralysis, and death. For each response, the sensitivity of the reference species bracketed that of the indigenous species. An overall ranking of species sensitivity could not be made because it depended on the response that was compared. The source of effluent toxicity was determined for one of the reference species, a crustacean. A simulated effluent was created to duplicate the ionic composition of the actual effluent. Toxicity was compared in effluent, effluent with increased salinity, simulated effluent, and Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. solutions with adjusted concentrations of ions. Calcium was in excess in the effluent, relative to seawater, and was isolated as the source of toxicity. Sodium deficiency in the effluent, relative to seawater, reduced calcium toxicity. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. V Table of Contents List of Figures ................................................. ix List of Tables .................................................. xi List of Appendices .............................................. xiii Chapter 1. General Introduction ................................. 1 Literature Cited ............................................ 4 Chapter 2. Experimental Comparison of Marine Macrofaunal Colonization in Mine Tailings and Natural Sediment .............. 5 Abstract .................................................... 5 Introduction ................................................ 7 Study objective ...................................... 9 Materials and Methods ...................................... 10 Study site ............................................ 10 Experimental sediments ............................... 13 Experimental design .................................. 15 Sample processing .................................... 20 Sampling of macrofauna at a candidate STD site ....... 22 Data analysis ........................................ 2 3 Results ..................................................... 26 Sediment analysis .................................... 26 Whole assemblage attributes .......................... 29 Species level comparisons............................. 36 Functional groups .................................... 41 Macrofauna at a candidate STD site .................... 44 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. vi Discussion ................................................. 46 Assemblage comparisons ............................... 46 Sediment differences ................................. 49 Ambient assemblage ................................... 51 Extrapolation of results ............................. 56 Recolonization at STD sites ......................... 58 Conclusions ................................................ 60 Acknowledgments ............................................ 6 0 Literature Cited ........................................... 62 Chapter 3. Toxicity of Gold Mill Effluent to Marine Fish and Crustaceans: An Example of Response-Dependence in Comparison of Species Sensitivity .............................................. 68 Abstract ................................................... 68 Introduction ............................................... 70 Study objective ...................................... 72 Materials and Methods ...................................... 72 Effluent sample ...................................... 72 Test animals ......................................... 73 Toxicity tests ....................................... 76 Chemical analysis .................................... 80 Data analysis ........................................ 80 Results .................................................... 83 Discussion ................................................. 88 Species comparisons .................................. 88 Implications of effluent storage and adjustment ..... 92 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. vii Risk of marine toxicity .............................. 93 Response-dependent differential sensitivity ......... 95 Conclusions ................................................ 97 Acknowledgments ............................................ 98 Literature Cited ........................................... 99 Chapter 4. The Role of Calcium and Sodium in Toxicity of Gold Mill Effluent to Mysid Shrimp (Mysidopsis bahia) 103 Abstract ................................................... 103 Introduction ............................................... 104 Study objective ...................................... 10 5 Materials and Methods ...................................... 105 Effluent sample ...................................... 105 Specifications pertaining to all experiments ........ 107 Determination of the concentration-response relationship for effluent ........................... 110 The combined roles of major ions in effluent toxicity ............................................. 112 The individual roles of major ions in effluent toxicity ............................................. 113 Chemical analysis .................................... 114 Data analysis ........................................ 117 Results .................................................... 120 Effluent toxicity ...................................