Skip to main content

Mercury contamination of active channel sediment and floodplain deposits from historic gold mining at Gold Hill, North Carolina, USA

Environmental Geology volume 55, pages 113–121 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

A reconnaissance investigation of mercury contamination associated with historic gold mining in North Carolina, USA, revealed high concentrations of mercury in channel and floodplain sediments downstream from the Gold Hill mining district. The most intense period of mining activities in this region occurred in the 1840s and 1850s when mercury amalgamation was used to recover fine gold particles from milled ore. This paper evaluates mercury concentrations measured in active channel sediments and two cores recovered from historic floodplain deposits of the lower portion of Dutch Buffalo Creek. Mercury concentrations in these cores range from 0.01 to 2.2 mg/kg, with maximum concentrations more than 35 times background levels. A later peak in copper concentrations is associated with the operation of a large copper mine between 1899 and 1906. Following the most intense periods of mining, both mercury and copper concentrations decrease upcore to constant levels of about twice pre-mining background concentrations. Results suggest that vertical trends in mercury and other trace metals provide a useful tool for interpreting rates of historic floodplain sedimentation in the Piedmont of North Carolina.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price includes VAT (Canada)

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

References

  • Ambers RKR, Hygelund BN (2001) Contamination of two Oregon reservoirs by cinnabar mining and mercury amalgamation. Environ Geol 40:699–707

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beckvar N, Field J, Salazar S, Hoff R (1996) Contaminants in aquatic habitats at hazardous waste sites: Mercury. NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS ORCA 100, Seattle, Hazardous Materials Response and Assessment Division, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 74 pp

  • Callahan JE, Miller JW, Craig JR (1994) Mercury pollution as a result of gold extraction in North Carolina, U.S.A. Appl Geochem 9:235–241

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter PA (1976) Metallic mineral deposits of the Carolina Slate Belt, North Carolina. Bulletin 94, North Carolina Department of Natural and Economic Resources, Raleigh, NC, 166 p

  • Clarkson TW (2002) The three modern faces of mercury. Environ Health Perspect 110(1):11–23

    Google Scholar 

  • Costa JE (1975) Effects of agriculture on erosion and sedimentation in the Piedmont Province, Maryland. Geol Soc Am Bull 86:1281–1286

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Domagalski J (1998) Occurrence and transport of total mercury and methyl mercury in the Sacramento River Basin, California. J Geochem Explor 64:277–291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emmons E (1856) Geological report of the midland counties of North Carolina. George P. Putnam and Co., NY, 351 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Gee GW, Bauder JW (1986) Particle-size analysis. In: Klute A (ed) Methods of soil analysis. Part 1, 2nd edn. Soil Science Society of America, Madison, pp 383–411

    Google Scholar 

  • Holmes J, Lean D (2006) Factors that influence methylmercury flux rates from wetland sediments. Sci Total Environ 368:306–319

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hylander LD, Goodsite ME (2006) Environmental costs of mercury pollution. Sci Total Environ 368:352–370

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kimberley MM, Hunsberger G, Brown HS (1984) Effects of pollution, sulfide-deposit weathering and background weathering on the Rocky River drainage basin in North Carolina. Water Resources Institute of the University of North Carolina, Final Report for Project 70017, 55 pp

  • Knapp RF, Glass BD (1999) Gold mining in North Carolina: a bicentennial history. North Carolina Division of Archives and History, Raleigh, NC, 192 p

  • Knox JC (1987) Historical valley floor sedimentation in the upper Mississippi Valley. Ann Assoc Am Geogr 77:224–244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krabbenhoft DP (2004) Methylmercury contamination of aquatic ecosystems: a widespread problem with many challenges for the chemical sciences. In: Norling P, Wood-Black F, Masciangioli TM (eds) Water and sustainable development opportunities for the chemical sciences—a workshop report to the chemical sciences roundtable. National Academies Press, Washington, DC, pp 19–26

  • Laney FB (1910) The Gold Hill mining district of North Carolina. North Carolina Geological and Economic Survey, Bulletin 21. Raleigh, NC

  • Laperdina TG (2002) Estimation of mercury and other heavy metal contamination in traditional gold-mining areas of Transbaikalia. Geochem Explor Environ Anal 2:219–223

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lecce SA (1997) Spatial patterns of historical overbank sedimentation and floodplain evolution, Blue River, Wisconsin. Geomorphology 18:265–277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lecce SA, Pavlowsky RT (2001) Use of mining-contaminated sediment tracers to investigate the timing and rates of historical floodplain sedimentation. Geomorphology 38:85–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leigh DS (1994) Mercury contamination and floodplain sedimentation from former gold mines in North Georgia. Water Resour Bull 30:739–748

    Google Scholar 

  • Leigh DS (1997) Mercury-tainted overbank sediment from past gold mining in north Georgia, U.S.A. Environ Geol 30:244–251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Macklin MG (1985) Flood-plain sedimentation in the upper Axe Valley, Mendip, England. Trans Inst Br Geogr NS 10:235–244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller JR, Lechler PJ, Desilets M (1998) The role of geomorphic processes in the transport and fate of mercury in the Carson River basin, west-central Nevada. Environ Geol 33:249–262

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller JR, Lechler PJ, Bridge G (2003) Mercury contamination of alluvial sediment within the Essequibo and Mazaruni river basins, Guyana. Water Air Soil Pollut 148:139–166

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merrens HR (1964) Colonial North Carolina in the eighteenth century. A study in historical geography. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill

    Google Scholar 

  • Nitze HBC, Wilkens HAJ (1897) Gold mining in North Carolina and adjacent South Appalachian regions. North Carolina Geological Survey, Bulletin 10, Raleigh

  • Nriagu JO (1994) Mercury pollution from the past mining of gold and silver in the Americas. Sci Total Environ 149:167–181

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pardee JT, Park CF (1948) Gold deposits of the Southern Piedmont. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 213, 156 p

  • Powell WS, Lefler HT (1973) Colonial North Carolina: a history. Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Reimann C, Caritat P (1998) Chemical elements in the environment: fact sheets for the geochemist and environmental scientist. Springer, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Roulet M, Guimaraes JRD, Lucotte M (2001) Methylmercury production and accumulation in sediments and soils of an Amazonian floodplain—effect of seasonal inundation. Water Air Soil Pollut 128:41–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stamenkovic J, Gustin MS, marvin-DiPasquale MC, Thomas BA, Agee JL (2004) Distribution of total and methyl mercury in sediments along Steamboat Creek (Nevada, USA). Sci Total Environ 322:167–177

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trimble SW, Lund SW (1982) Soil conservation and the reduction of erosion and sedimentation in the Coon Creek Basin, Wisconsin. US Geological Survey Professional Paper 1234, 35 pp

  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) (2003) Mercury research multi-year plan. FY 2005 Planning—final version, May 9, 2003. Office of Research and Development, Washington, DC

  • U.S. Geological Survey (2004) National geochemical survey. U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report 2004–1001

  • Xinmin Z, Kunli L, Xinzhang S, Jian’an T, Yilun L (2006) Mercury in the topsoil and dust of Beijing City. Sci Total Environ 368:713–722

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was funded through a Research Development Grant at East Carolina University and support from the Ozarks Environmental and Water Resources Institute. We thank Stacey Armstrong, Mark Gossard, Marc Owen, Derek Martin, Tim Nipper, Matt Peters, Johnny Odell, and Rebecca Dodd for help in the field and lab.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, East Carolina University, A-227 Brewster Building, Greenville, NC, 27858, USA

    Scott Lecce

  2. Department of Geography, Geology and Planning, Missouri State University, Springfield, MO, USA

    Robert Pavlowsky & Gwenda Schlomer

Authors
  1. Scott Lecce
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Robert Pavlowsky
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Gwenda Schlomer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Scott Lecce.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lecce, S., Pavlowsky, R. & Schlomer, G. Mercury contamination of active channel sediment and floodplain deposits from historic gold mining at Gold Hill, North Carolina, USA. Environ Geol 55, 113–121 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-007-0970-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-007-0970-9

Keywords

  • Mercury
  • Gold mining
  • Floodplains
  • Sedimentation
  • Contamination