Institute of Geosciences, UiT, The Arctic University of Norway Distribution, deposition and impact of tailing disposal on the seafloor in Ranfjorden, northern Norway — Anders Eirik Haugen Master’s thesis in Geosciences… July 2018 Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 1 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. 2 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 3 1.1 Aim of Study ........................................................................................................................... 3 1.2 Background ............................................................................................................................. 4 Mine tailings .................................................................................................................... 5 Submarine Tailings Placement ........................................................................................ 7 1.3 Previous Work ....................................................................................................................... 11 2 Study Area .................................................................................................................................... 12 2.1 Physiographic setting ............................................................................................................ 12 2.2 Regional Geology .................................................................................................................. 13 2.3 Climate .................................................................................................................................. 14 2.4 Ranaelva River ...................................................................................................................... 15 2.5 Rana Gruber Mines ............................................................................................................... 16 Submarine Tailing Placement ........................................................................................ 16 3 Fjord Hydrography and Sedimentary Processes ........................................................................... 18 3.1 Fjord Hydrography ................................................................................................................ 18 3.2 Fjord Sedimentation .............................................................................................................. 20 4 Materials and Methods ................................................................................................................. 22 4.1 Sediment Collection .............................................................................................................. 22 Sediment Grab Documentation ..................................................................................... 22 4.2 Swath Bathymetry ................................................................................................................. 24 4.3 TOPAS Seismic ..................................................................................................................... 24 4.4 Laboratory Analysis .............................................................................................................. 25 Opening, Photography and X-Ray of Cores .................................................................. 25 XRF Analysis ................................................................................................................ 25 Sedimentary Core Logging............................................................................................ 25 Shear Strength Test ....................................................................................................... 26 Grainsize Analysis ......................................................................................................... 26 5 Swath Bathymetry ........................................................................................................................ 28 5.1 2012 WASSP and 2016 EM2040 Multibeam Bathymetry .................................................... 28 Interpretation: ................................................................................................................ 32 5.2 2014-2016 Changes in Bathymetry ....................................................................................... 32 Interpretation ................................................................................................................. 35 6 Sediment Cores and Grabs............................................................................................................ 36 6.1 Sediment Cores...................................................................................................................... 36 Core P1502-001 ............................................................................................................. 36 Core P1502-016 ............................................................................................................. 40 Core P1502-013 ............................................................................................................. 44 Core P1502-015 ............................................................................................................. 47 Core P1502-009 ............................................................................................................. 50 Core P1502-004 ............................................................................................................. 53 6.2 Sediment Grabs ..................................................................................................................... 56 Sediment Grab P1502-030 ............................................................................................ 57 Sediment Grab P1502-029 ............................................................................................ 57 Sediment Grab P1502-028 ............................................................................................ 58 Sediment Grab P1502-027 ............................................................................................ 58 Sediment Grab P1502-026 ............................................................................................ 59 Sediment Grab P1502-025 ............................................................................................ 59 Sediment Grab P1502-024 ............................................................................................ 60 Sediment Grab P1502-023 ............................................................................................ 60 Sediment Grab P1502-022 ............................................................................................ 61 Sediment Grab P1502-021 ............................................................................................ 61 Interpretation ................................................................................................................. 62 7 TOPAS Seismic ............................................................................................................................ 63 7.1 Profile 1502006 ..................................................................................................................... 64 7.2 Profile 1502027 ..................................................................................................................... 65 7.3 Interpretation ......................................................................................................................... 66 8 Discussion ..................................................................................................................................... 67 8.1 Depositional Environment ..................................................................................................... 67 Sediment Distribution .................................................................................................... 67 Sedimentary Processes .................................................................................................. 72 8.2 Impact of Tailings on the seafloor of the fjord ...................................................................... 74 9 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 76 Works Cited ........................................................................................................................................... 78 List of Tables Table 1.Mo i Rana average monthly temperatures (https://no.climate-data.org/) ................................. 15 Table 2. Sediment core lengths, sampling depths and positions (*Degrees Minutes Seconds) ............ 22 Table 3. Sediment grab depth and location (Degrees Minutes Seconds) .............................................. 24 List of Figures Figure 1. Ranfjorden Study Area ............................................................................................................ 3 Figure 2. World mining production 1984-2016 by continents (without construction minerals, in Million metric tons) ................................................................................................................................