Mobility and fractionation of Fe, Pb and Zn in river sediments from a silver and base-metals mining area: Taxco, México.

The impact of mining wastes on both the concentration and environmental mobility of Zn, Pb and Fe was studied in a shallow river. The studied tributary of the Taxco river is located south of the historical Ag, Zn, Cu and Pb mining area of Taxco, about 150 km south of México City. Methodology included total concentration determinations and sequential extraction analyses of the operational defined fractions of sediments. Results indicated that Fe, Pb and Zn concentrations are up to 5, 100 and 390 times respectively, greater than regional background concentrations. Higher contents of Pb and Zn were observed in the rainy season versus the dry season, whereas Fe was lower in the rainy season. Zinc and lead increased downflow in the dry season, and did not show any trend during the rainy season. Speciation showed that Zn was mainly linked to the carbonatic fraction (25-39%), to the hydrous Fe/Mn oxides fraction (15-25%) and to the organic matter and sulfide fraction (14-48%); lead was mainly associated to the hydrous Fe/Mn oxides (49-59%) and residual (22-39%) fractions; finally, iron was contained mainly in the residual (65-78%) and the hydrous Fe/Mn oxides fraction (15%). Mobility decreased according to the relation: Zn > Pb > Fe. Sediments were classified as strongly polluted in zinc, strongly to very strongly polluted in Pb, and moderately to strongly polluted in iron. However, a low proportion of metals in the exchangeable fractions, indicates low bioavailability. Limestone presence played a very important role on Zn and Pb fractionation and environmental mobility. Results show the importance of including geological background in river pollution studies.