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Chemical quality of leachates and enzymatic activities in Technosols with gossan and sulfide wastes from the São Domingos mine

  • Soil Pollution and Remediation
  • Published:
Journal of Soils and Sediments Aims and scope Submit manuscript

An Erratum to this article was published on 30 December 2015

Abstract

Purpose

São Domingos mine area (Portuguese Iberian Pyrite Belt) contains several mine wastes with different environmental hazard which are disposed irregularly over a large area. This study aimed to evaluate the following: (1) soil enzymatic activities, chemical quality of leachates and Cistus ladanifer germination in Technosols composed of gossan or sulfide wastes from the mine and amendment mixtures (organic and inorganic); (2) the efficiency of a layer of gossan over sulfide wastes to improve rehabilitation of the more hazardous waste.

Materials and methods

Technosols were composed of gossan or sulfide wastes and amendment mixtures, at 12 and 30 g/kg, containing organic/inorganic wastes from agriculture and distilleries in equal proportion. Three microcosm assays, under controlled conditions, were carried out: Gossan/sulfide wastes and respective Technosols (assays 1-2); (assay 3) Sulfide wastes, with/without amendments, incubated during 4 months and then with an application of a thin overlayer of gossan with/without the same amendments. Cistus ladanifer was sown in half of the pots from each treatment while the remainder was left bare. After 3 and 9 months of incubation, composite samples of the materials were collected and dehydrogenase, acid phosphatase and β-glucosidase activities were determined. In same sampling periods, percolation leachates were analysed for anions and cations concentrations, pH and electrical conductivity.

Results and discussion

Technosols with gossan wastes were significantly different (p < 0.05) due to higher dehydrogenase and β-glucosidase activities, better seedling growth and improved chemical characteristics of leachates. Although electrical conductivity and concentrations of some elements (e.g. As and SO4) in leachates from Technosols with sulfide wastes were reduced (>50 % of EC and 23–99 % depending on element, Technosol and sampling period), the amendments did not prevent sulfide oxidation and acid generation, improve enzymatic activities or allow seed germination. Higher elements concentrations in leachates were obtained with the overlapping of two Technosols or mine wastes, compared to the leachates from assays with a single mine waste. Application of a gossan/Technosol layer over sulfide wastes allowed C. ladanifer germination but plants died after ≈50 days.

Conclusions

The use of Technosols derived from gossan or sulfide wastes may be an efficient solution for rehabilitation of these mine wastes. However, the results with sulfide wastes were not encouraging. The use of a Technosol obtained from gossan wastes seems be a promising approach to isolate sulfide wastes from air and initiate their revegetation, but this technology requires further improvements, namely to prevent the ascension of salts by capillarity.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Madre Fruta (Hubel Group) for providing the agriculture wastes and rockwool and Mr. José G. L. Sequeira for the wastes from the liquor distillery (Adega Aldeia do Talurdo); Carmen Pérez, David Romero, José Correia and Paula Gonçalves for technical support; and the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for financial research support for UIQA—Unidade de Investigação Química Ambiental (Projecto Estratégico/528), CEER—Centro de Engenharia dos Biosistemas (Projecto Estratégico/245) and the PhD grant (SFRH/BD/80198/2011).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigação em Ciências do Ambiente e Empresariais, Instituto Superior Dom Afonso III, Convento Espírito Santo, 8100-641, Loulé, Portugal

    Erika S. Santos

  2. Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food Research Centre (LEAF), Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017, Lisboa, Portugal

    Erika S. Santos, Maria Manuela Abreu & Amarílis de Varennes

  3. Departamento de Edafología y Química Agrícola, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Campus Universitario Sur, 15782, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

    Felipe Macías

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  1. Erika S. Santos
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  2. Maria Manuela Abreu
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  3. Felipe Macías
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  4. Amarílis de Varennes
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Correspondence to Maria Manuela Abreu.

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Responsible editor: Jaume Bech

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Santos, E.S., Abreu, M.M., Macías, F. et al. Chemical quality of leachates and enzymatic activities in Technosols with gossan and sulfide wastes from the São Domingos mine. J Soils Sediments 16, 1366–1382 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-015-1068-8

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