Journal of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation最新文献

{"title":"SURFACE MINE TO BIOMASS FARM: GROWING SHRUB WILLOW (SALIX SPP.) IN NORTHEASTERN WEST VIRGINIA - FIRST YEAR RESULTS","authors":"B. Caterino","doi":"10.21000/JASMR17010001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21000/JASMR17010001","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract: Shrub willow (Salix spp.) has been a focus of international efforts to develop renewable alternatives for fossil fuels and to sequester carbon from earth's atmosphere. One area of interest has been to plant and cultivate willow on reclaimed mine lands. West Virginia’s coalfields provide significant land area for incorporating willow cultivation into reclamation. The objective of this study was to develop silvicultural treatments to overcome the most common properties of mine soils in Appalachia: high rock fragment content that often causes difficult planting, reduced nutrient availability, and low water-holding capacity. Cuttings of three shrub willow clones were planted with six planting/fertilizer treatments. The planting treatments compared a horizontal planting method that was more efficient than digging full depth holes into compacted and rocky mine soils to traditional vertical planting of cuttings. Fertilizer treatments compared no fertilization to controlled release and traditional fertilizer applied at 140 kg N ha. Following the first growing season, clones clearly differed in survival and production but the influence of fertilizer treatments was inconsistent. Horizontal planting impeded cutting survival in rocky planting conditions. Survival and growth were lower for horizontally-planted cuttings relative to vertically-planted cuttings. Response to fertilizer varied by clone. Results of this study will be used to direct future establishment practices for willow on reclaimed mine soils in West Virginia.","PeriodicalId":17230,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation","volume":"7 1","pages":"1-14"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75722864","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"TOTAL DISSOLVED SOLIDS IN AN OHIO MINED AREA 1","authors":"J. Peterson","doi":"10.21000/JASMR16010086","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21000/JASMR16010086","url":null,"abstract":"At a mined area in northeastern Ohio, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) concentrations within a large creek and its tributary sometimes exceeded the local regulatory limit. The TDS stemmed from active and inactive coal mines and their settling ponds, from which dissolved loads were carried to the creek and tributary via outfalls. The existing compliance strategy was to control the timing of problematic outfalls, reducing flows when exceedance was imminent; however, because of the variability of weather and mining activities, identifying the problematic outfalls would require more frequent measurements than could be performed manually. Data logging stations were deployed on the creek and the tributary between each mining outfall, and specific conductivity (for TDS) and pressure (for flow) were recorded at 10-minute intervals. Field testing resulted in an innovative design for the data logger housing. A telemetry station was installed to provide real-time warnings should TDS-thresholds be exceeded downstream of the coal mine. Data analysis included calculations of mass loading and the annual TDS delivered by each outfall. Results indicated four outfalls whose mass loads were particularly problematic, and that TDS was occasionally resultant from an unknown source located upstream of the coal mines. Recommendations are included regarding the designs of systems.","PeriodicalId":17230,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation","volume":"50 1","pages":"86-110"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74649010","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Validation of a stream and riparian habitat assessment protocol using stream salamanders in the southwest Virginia coalfields","authors":"S. Sweeten, W. Ford","doi":"10.21000/JASMR16010045","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21000/JASMR16010045","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract: Within the central Appalachia Coalfields, the aquatic impacts of largescale land uses, such as surface mining, are of particular ecological concern. Identification and quantification of land use impacts to aquatic ecosystems are a necessary first step to aid in mitigation of negative consequences to biota. However, quantifying physical environmental quality such as stream and riparian habitat often can be quite difficult, particularly when there is time or fiscal limitations. As such, standard protocols such as the U.S. EPA’s Stream Habitat Rapid Bioassessment Protocol have been established to be costand time-effective. This protocol estimates ten different stream and riparian conditions on a scale of 0 to 20. Unfortunately, using estimations can be problematic because of large potential variation in the scoring depending on differences in training, experience, and opinion of the personnel doing the estimations. In order to help negate these biases and provide a simplified process, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) developed a functional assessment for streams that measures 11 stream and riparian variables along with watershed land use to calculate three different scores, a hydrology score, biogeochemical score, and habitat score. In our study, we examined the correlation of stream salamander presence and abundance to the three USACE scores. In the summer of 2013, we visited 70 sites in the southwest Virginia Coalfields multiple times to collect salamanders and quantify stream and riparian microhabitat parameters. Using occupancy and abundance analyses, we found strong relationships among three Desmognathus spp. and the USACE Habitat FCI score. Accordingly, the Habitat FCI score provides a reasonable assessment of physical instream and riparian conditions that may serve as a surrogate for understanding the community composition and integrity of aquatic salamander in the region.","PeriodicalId":17230,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation","volume":"46 1","pages":"45-66"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73750884","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"REVEGETATION TRENDS AND LESSONS AT TWO MONTANA COAL MINES BASED ON 20 YEARS OF MONITORING","authors":"R. Prodgers","doi":"10.21000/JASMR16010111","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21000/JASMR16010111","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract: Bighorn Environmental Sciences monitored revegetation at Spring Creek Coal Mine (SCCM) and Decker Coal Mine (DCM) in semiarid southcentral Montana for 20 years using consistent transect locations and methods. Measurements include canopy coverage, air-dried peak standing crop (PSC), and shrub density. About 30 SCCM fields were old enough to evaluate temporal trends. Findings include: • Ten years after seeding, post-mine perennial productivity and canopy coverage were trending upward and exceeded both performance standards and pre-mine vegetation. • Shrub density declined in about 4/5s of fields. Meeting the shrub density standard of 5,740/ha for wildlife habitat, the primary post-mine land use, is a major revegetation challenge. • Rosana western wheatgrass tripled in relative cover by the conclusion of monitoring. It combines environmental suitability and vigorous rhizomatous spread. Introduced sheep fescue spread even more abundantly, quadrupling relative cover from the early years to one decade or more later, also spreading to adjacent fields. • Cheatgrass, which replaces annual forb weeds in unsatisfactory seedings, showed no net temporal trend. • The explosion of the first-year kochia impairs seeding success through interference competition. Prevention requires mine-wide effort. Seeding into annual weeds or litter has not worked, requiring chemical weed control and litter removal before interseeding. The first seeding opportunity is the best. • Shrub seedings are far more successful on suitable spoil than on topsoil. However, some spoil meeting the chemical-physical suitability criteria does not support satisfactory revegetation. Scoria can be a fine shrub and diversity substrate or disappointing. • Heavy-seeded Chenopod shrubs can be established through drill seeding even among vigorous, competitive grasses. • Light-seeded sagebrush establishes best when seeded apart from the heavy-seeded plants. • The most prevalent contribution of direct-haul coversoil to revegetation is weeds, not native perennials.","PeriodicalId":17230,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation","volume":"59 1","pages":"111-146"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88696098","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"ISLANDS - SOIL PATCHES AND PLANT COMMUNITY DYNAMICS ON A NEW OIL SANDS RECLAMATION DESIGN 1","authors":"B. Pinno, Ira Sherr, R. Errington, K. Shea","doi":"10.21000/JASMR16010028","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21000/JASMR16010028","url":null,"abstract":"The goal of land reclamation after oil sands mining in the boreal forest of northern Alberta, Canada is to re-establish functioning forest ecosystems, including the development of a natural plant community. Reclamation practices include the use of operational reclamation soils derived from upland forest soils (referred to as forest floor-mineral mix (FFMM)), which has higher plant diversity, and lowland based peat-mineral mix (PMM), which has greater tree regeneration. Building from experience in forest harvesting practices and natural landscape patterns, the \"Islands\" reclamation concept was put into practice in a new reclamation area established in 2015 with patches or islands of differing sizes and shapes of FFMM placed within a matrix of the more abundant PMM. These islands of FFMM are intended to serve as lifeboats and colonization centres for native biota. Initial studies are focusing on determining the optimal size and spacing of the FFMM patches. Plant species area curves were developed and show that patch sizes of at least 671 - 960 m 2 are recommended to allow initial establishment of native plant species, and in particular woody species, with smaller patch sizes favouring non-native weedy species. Initial spatial patterns indicate no relationship between plant species richness and distance to FFMM - PMM soil boundary with the rate and distance of spread of native plants from the FFMM patches being an important monitoring consideration in future years. This work on the Islands approach will help in the development of more efficient and effective reclamation practices which take advantage of the ecological differences in available reclamation soils.","PeriodicalId":17230,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation","volume":"48 1","pages":"28-44"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87320140","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"CASE STUDY: SOME LESSONS FROM THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF NATIVE FOREST REHABILITATION AT THREE SURFACE MINE COMPLEXES IN AUSTRALIA","authors":"R. Humphries","doi":"10.21000/JASMR16010001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21000/JASMR16010001","url":null,"abstract":"The rehabilitation of forest and other woody vegetation ecosystems on mineral extraction sites is common place and a major post-mining land use throughout Australia. Owing to the need for government certification (under Australian Government and State legislation) for mine closure, monitoring of the establishing forests or other woody ecosystems is typically undertaken using agreed completion criteria which are predictive of rehabilitation future achievement. The collation and review of the monitoring results for the early development of the rehabilitated forests at three surface mines provide an opportunity to identify key processes and practices that might be used to enhance the achievements in Australia and elsewhere. The monitoring results for two rehabilitation schemes in sub-tropical Queensland (mineral sand and coal) and one in Western Australia (bauxite) were examined. Whilst it is evident that woody vegetation comprising several native tree and shrub species can be readily established, the resulting vegetation communities in the early development of the forest vegetation can be notably different in their composition and structure to the target and/or locally occurring native types. It is concluded that forest structural formation in combination with species composition, are of importance in establishing the predicted trajectory of the developing forest type, ecosystem, functioning, and sustainability. Species composition is likely to influence initial forest structure and the need for intervention practices, such as thinning, that may be required to achieve the necessary structural formation and ultimately the targeted native forest types. The principles established are likely to universally apply irrespective of the mineral and climatic types examined. Additional","PeriodicalId":17230,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation","volume":"22 1","pages":"1-27"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74947313","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"THE SPENCEVILLE COPPER MINE CLOSURE 1","authors":"W. J. Walker, D. Wanket, A. Pujol","doi":"10.21000/JASMR16010147","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21000/JASMR16010147","url":null,"abstract":"Spenceville Mine is an abandoned copper mine located in the Sierra Nevada foothills of California. The mine was operated intermittently from the 1880's until 1918. The site was covered with mine tailings and overburden materials. In addition, the central portion of the site was occupied by a flooded open pit, which contained approximately 6 million gallons of acidic water with a pH averaging 2.5. The U.S Army owned the site from 1941 to 1962, at which time it was transferred to the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) with the creation of the Spenceville Wildlife Refuge. The closure plan was approved by the regulatory agencies in early 2001, and mine closure activities began in April 2001. In subsequent months a water treatment plant was constructed and used to treat the pit water. The treated water was then applied to land in the vicinity of the site. The mine waste was excavated, treated with lime, and placed in the dewatered pit. A two foot layer of local soil was placed as cover over the entire site, and a mine-impacted stream was restored to its original channel. In addition to these tasks, closure activities had to address the potential for unexploded ordnances, reclamation of shafts and tunnels in the dewatered pit, and documentation of cultural resources.","PeriodicalId":17230,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation","volume":"28 3 1","pages":"147-166"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78199014","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"CASE STUDY: 20 YEARS OF ACID ROCK DRAINAGE CHEMISTRY IMPROVEMENTS AFTER A BACTERICIDE APPLICATION 1","authors":"J. Gusek, Van G. Plocus","doi":"10.21000/JASMR16010067","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21000/JASMR16010067","url":null,"abstract":"The Fisher site is a backfilled and reclaimed (in 1984) surface coal mine in western Pennsylvania, USA. A post-closure toe seep at the site discharged acid rock drainage generated in pyritic rock zones that were identified using geophysical techniques. In 1995, sodium hydroxide and bactericide solutions were injected through cased boreholes into the pyritic zones in a two-step process: sodium hydroxide followed by bactericide. Prior to the event, the toe seepage had been treated with the addition of sodium hydroxide followed by a series of settling ponds and wetland zones. Post- injection, the seepage exhibited net-alkaline chemistry and the sodium hydroxide amendment was discontinued. Based on the prevailing wisdom at the time, the effects of the injection event were expected to be temporary. Two decades later, the beneficial effects of the two-step injection event appear to persist and bond release for the site is pending. The seep chemistry has been monitored for over 25 years and the data trends suggest that the steady-state condition of net alkalinity in the seep water entering the ponds and wetland may be permanent. One current view is that the initial suppression of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans bacterial community with the sodium hydroxide and bactericide has been maintained by the seasonal infusion of anti-bactericidal organic acids derived from the robust vegetative cover. The situation appears to be self- sustaining. Others may view the data skeptically; that is, the cause and effect of bactericide application and the sustained benefits of the vegetative cover are not proven conclusively. Certainly, the observations suggest that additional focused study is warranted.","PeriodicalId":17230,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation","volume":"12 1","pages":"67-85"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86437539","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Salix spp. as a biomass crop: Investigating their potential on marginal lands and the use of biochar as a soil amendment","authors":"H. A. Nobert","doi":"10.21000/JASMR16020058","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21000/JASMR16020058","url":null,"abstract":"Salix spp. as a biomass crop: Investigating its potential on marginal lands and the use of biochar as a soil amendment.","PeriodicalId":17230,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation","volume":"116 1","pages":"58-76"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79290482","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"NATURAL PROCESSES FOR THE RESTORATION OF DRASTICALLY DISTURBED SITES","authors":"D. Polster","doi":"10.21000/JASMR16020077","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21000/JASMR16020077","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Natural processes have been revegetating naturally disturbed sites (landslides, volcanic explosions, earthquakes, etc.) since the advent of terrestrial vegetation about 400 million years ago. Understanding the way these natural processes operate provides a framework for the design of restoration programs for anthropogenic disturbances (mines, industrial disturbances, etc.). The first step in the design of a natural process based restoration program is to identify what it is that is delaying the natural recovery from occurring (filters). Common abiotic stressors (filters) are adverse texture, nutrient status, adverse chemical properties, soil temperature extremes, compaction, adverse micro-site conditions, and excessive erosion. Biotic filters include herbivory, competition, propagule availability, phytotoxic exudates, facilitation, and adverse species interactions. Once the filters that are preventing recovery are identified and addressed, the natural processes will operate to restore the site. Care must be taken not to solve one problem by creating another. Traditional grass and legume seeding has been used to control erosion on many reclamation sites. However, the seeded cover has been found to restrict the growth of woody species so if a forest is what the restoration program is directed at, then seeding with grasses and legumes may be inconsistent with desired results. Making sites rough and loose can address a number of filters (compaction, excess erosion, lack of micro-sites, soil temperature extremes) and costs about a third of the cost of traditional hydroseeding. In many cases, there are ample seed sources nearby and making a mine site rough and loose with the application of large woody debris at a rate of 100 m/ha (determined from studies in Northern Alberta) can initiate the recovery process. Pioneering species often have effective seed dispersal mechanisms so creating the right habitat can result in the establishment of the pioneering species that are adapted to the local conditions. Practices such as making sites rough and loose (like trees in a forest turning up the soil) and scattering large woody debris on the area can initiate recovery on drastically disturbed sites.","PeriodicalId":17230,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation","volume":"7 1","pages":"77-90"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81388483","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}