The dispersal of metal mining wastes in the catchment of the river Geul (Belgium - The Netherlands)

The metal mining industry has caused large quantities of heavy metals to enter countless river systems. The consequent spread of heavy metals is determined largely by how these metals bind with silt and soil particles and the transport pathways of these particles in the alluvial parts of river systems. Once the slib-bound metals have been taken up into one of the hydrological subsystems, such as the underwater soil and the banks, they continue to be subject to geomorphological, chemical and hydrological processes. After sedimentation, both the silt and the metals bound to it may be remobilized... Mehr ...