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Contamination assessment and potential sources of heavy metals and other elements in sediments of a basin impacted by 500 years of mining in central Mexico

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Abstract

Since the middle of the 1500 s, mining has been active in central Mexico. Total estimates for low-grade piles and mine tailing materials in the Guanajuato mining district (GMD) are in the range of 150 million tons, covering an area of 15 to 20 km2. GMD is located in the Guanajuato River sub-basin (GRB), which is part of one of the largest basins in Mexico (Lerma-Santiago). Previous studies on the GRB found unusually high concentrations of heavy metals in mining tailings and sediments. Geochemical and statistical methods were used here to determine the sediment’s origin, background values, degree of contamination, and toxicity through different contamination indices. This analysis shows that Cu, Co, As, Sb, and Hg are higher than they are in the upper continental crust (UCC) overbank sediments without human and mining influence, because of the ore deposits and rock weathering in GRB. Geochemistry results in stream sediments show anomalies, where Hg, Cu, Zn, As, and Pb are higher than UCC because those heavy metals and trace elements (HMT) have been influenced by human activities and mineral recovery (smelting, amalgamation, cyanidation). The distribution of high concentrations of HMTs and contamination indices occur in the main channel of the Guanajuato River and downstream of the city of Guanajuato. Statistical analyses (cluster and principal component analysis) reveal relationships between Cr, Ni, Cu, and Pb, which are primarily of natural origin, related to rocks of the upper basin. The middle and lower basins are distinctive in their associations between As, Sb, Zn, Pb, and Hg. Additionally, it is recognized that the origins of Pb, Zn, and Hg are geogenic and anthropogenic. This study demonstrates how crucial it is to understand the geochemistry of various HMT sources, with both natural and anthropogenic contributions (stream sediments and rocks), in order to calculate a more realistic background in a basin with both natural anomalies and anthropogenic contamination. The basin is a regional aquifer recharge area, so the new geochemical data are important for improving basin environmental management.

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Fig. 1

Modified from Servicio Geológico Mexicano (1998, 2002)

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Data availability

The datasets used or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the Guanajuato University project 102/2020 and CONACyT scholarship 785610. We appreciate the support of Daniela Moncada from the LICAMM-UG laboratory. We thank all of the reviewers for their helpful comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ingeniería Geomática E Hidráulica, Universidad de Guanajuato, Av. Juárez 77, Zona Centro, 36000, Guanajuato, México

    Luisa Fernanda Rueda-Garzon & Jorge Luis Morales-Martinez

  2. Departamento de Minas Metalurgia Y Geología, Universidad de Guanajuato, Ex-Hacienda San Matías, 36020, Guanajuato, México

    Raúl Miranda-Avilés & María Jesus Puy-Alquiza

  3. Centro de Geociencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Juriquilla, Blvd. Juriquilla 3001, Juriquilla, Querétaro, 76230, México

    Alejandro Carrillo-Chávez

  4. Departamento de Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad de Guanajuato, Carretera Irapuato-Silao km 9, Irapuato, Guanajuato, 36500, México

    Gabriela Zanor

Authors
  1. Luisa Fernanda Rueda-Garzon
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  2. Raúl Miranda-Avilés
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  3. Alejandro Carrillo-Chávez
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  4. María Jesus Puy-Alquiza
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  5. Jorge Luis Morales-Martinez
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  6. Gabriela Zanor
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study's conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Rueda-Garzon, Miranda-Avilés, Puy-Alquiza, and Zanor. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Rueda-Garzon, Miranda-Avilés, Carrillo-Chávez, and Morales-Martínez, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Raúl Miranda-Avilés.

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Rueda-Garzon, L.F., Miranda-Avilés, R., Carrillo-Chávez, A. et al. Contamination assessment and potential sources of heavy metals and other elements in sediments of a basin impacted by 500 years of mining in central Mexico. Environ Monit Assess 194, 729 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-022-10421-0

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