A sediment quality triad assessment of the impact of copper mine tailings disposal on the littoral sedimentary environment in the Atacama region of northern Chile

• Published in: Marine pollution bulletin Vol. 52; no. 11; pp. 1389 - 1395
• Main Authors: Lee, Matthew R., Correa, Juan A., Seed, Ray
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.11.2006; Elsevier
• Subjects: Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; Applied sciences; Atacama; Biological and medical sciences; Biological and physicochemical properties of pollutants. Interaction in the soil; Chile; Copper; Copper - analysis; Copper - toxicity; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Engineering and environment geology. Geothermics; Environmental Monitoring - statistics & numerical data; Environmental Pollutants - analysis; Environmental Pollutants - toxicity; Eukaryota - drug effects; Eukaryota - metabolism; Exact sciences and technology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Geologic Sediments - analysis; Harpacticoida; Invertebrates - drug effects; Invertebrates - metabolism; Marine and brackish environment; Meiofauna; Metals; Pollution; Pollution, environment geology; Saccocirrus; Saccocirrus sonomacus; Seawater - chemistry; Sediment quality triad; Soil and sediments pollution; Tailings; Turbellaria; South America; Chile; America; Chile, Atacama; ISE, Chile; Meiofauna; Sediment quality triad; Copper; Metals; Tailings; Marine sediments; Foraminifera; Biodiversity; Coastal zone; Crustacea; Marine environment; Pollution; Copepoda; Mining industry; Ecological abundance; Protozoa; Fauna; Polychaeta; Plathelmintha; Copper ore; Bioavailability; Annelida; Industrial waste; Turbellaria; Arthropoda; Environment impact; Helmintha; Invertebrata; Mining waste; Harpacticoidea
• ISSN: 0025-326X; 1879-3363
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2006.03.019

A sediment quality triad (SQT) assessment was made of the impact of copper mine tailings disposal on littoral meiofaunal assemblages in the Atacama region of northern Chile. This situation is unusual in that the disposal is direct into the high-energy coastal system and not via a river estuary or other low-energy environment. This situation also allows for the examination of the impact of copper mine tailings in the absence of confounding effects from other pollutants. The three components of the SQT were: 1. an analysis of the bioavailable metals in both the sedimentary porewater and the adjacent seawater, 2. a microcosm bioassay of both sediments and seawaters using meiofaunal assemblages, and 3. quantitative field samples of the meiofaunal assemblages. Twelve study sites with varying degrees of impact were used, including three reference sites. The study identified that both the meiofaunal assemblage densities and taxa diversities decrease with increasing levels of bioavailable copper, that the Foraminifera and Harpacticoida are sensitive to copper, and that otoplanid Turbellaria are often characteristic of impacted sites; tailings also have both chemical and physical impacts on the environment. In some cases the physical impact of tailings is more important in excluding some organisms e.g. the interstitial polychaete, Saccocirrus sonomacus, from a site than is their chemical impact.