River Carnon Mine Pollution Hydrochemistry Data 1992-1994

Cornwall hydrochemistry data captures trace metal mobilization in the River Carnon and Fal estuary following the 1992 Wheal Jane mine pollution incident. The Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and University of Reading monitored water quality from September 1992 to April 1994, measuring pH, ALK, and metals including Fe, Zn, Cu, Al, Cd, Pb, and rare earth elements.

Use Cases

• Model the relationship between pH and metal concentrations like Fe, Zn, Cu, and Al to understand acid mine drainage chemistry.
• Analyze temporal trends in SO4, ALK, and trace elements (Cd, Pb, Sb) to assess post-incident water quality recovery.
• Compare spatial contamination by examining metal loads (Ce, La, Nd) across the River Carnon, River Fal, and estuary sites.
• Investigate correlations between alkali metals (Na, K, Rb, Cs) and alkaline earth metals (Ca, Mg, Sr, Ba) in polluted freshwater systems.

Strengths

• Data covers a specific, well-documented major pollution incident (January 1992) and its aftermath.
• Monitoring period spans 20 months (September 1992 to April 1994) for tracking recovery.
• Includes over 30 measured parameters, from major ions (Ca, Mg, SO4) to trace metals and rare earth elements (La, Ce, Nd, Th, U).

Limitations

• Sample size (row count) and spatial sampling resolution are unknown.
• Data is temporally stale, focused on a single historical event from over 30 years ago.
• Geographic scope is limited to one watershed in Cornwall, limiting generalizability.

Provenance

Source

Environmental Information Data Centre

Collection Method

Field monitoring by the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology in conjunction with the University of Reading.

Time Range

September 1992 to April 1994

Freshness

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Geography

River Carnon, River Fal (downstream), and its estuary in Cornwall, UK