Waste water discharge from a large Ni-Zn open cast mine degrades benthic integrity of Lake Nuasjärvi (Finland)
The Talvivaara/Terrafame multi-metal mining company is Europe’s largest nickel open cast mine, it is also known for the largest wastewater leakage in the Finnish mining history and a series of other accidents. In this paleolimnological study, influences of a recently constructed treated waste water...
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ftunivhelsihelda:oai:helda.helsinki.fi:10138/334444 2024-01-07T09:44:40+01:00 Waste water discharge from a large Ni-Zn open cast mine degrades benthic integrity of Lake Nuasjärvi (Finland) Luoto, Tomi P. Leppänen, Jaakko Johannes Weckström, Jan Ecosystems and Environment Research Programme Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS) Environmental Change Research Unit (ECRU) 2021-09-19T22:24:25Z 11 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10138/334444 eng eng ELSEVIER SCI IRELAND LTD 10.1016/j.envpol.2019.113268 Luoto , T P , Leppänen , J J & Weckström , J 2019 , ' Waste water discharge from a large Ni-Zn open cast mine degrades benthic integrity of Lake Nuasjärvi (Finland) ' , Environmental Pollution , vol. 255 , no. Part 2 , 113268 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2019.113268 RIS: urn:91C0C519274E40693FD57A19BE2808EA ORCID: /0000-0001-6925-3688/work/66365355 ORCID: /0000-0001-5604-617X/work/66367486 df3e9a53-ae6e-45c1-b731-3d8e577c5f97 http://hdl.handle.net/10138/334444 000498340400050 cc_by_nc_nd openAccess info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess 1172 Environmental sciences Chironomidae Cladocera diatoms mine impact paleolimnology MIDGES DIPTERA INFERENCE MODELS SUMMER HYPOLIMNETIC OXYGEN EUTROPHICATION ECOLOGICAL INTEGRITY METAL CONTAMINATION SOUTHERN FINLAND KOLA-PENINSULA CLIMATE Article acceptedVersion 2021 ftunivhelsihelda 2023-12-14T00:14:06Z The Talvivaara/Terrafame multi-metal mining company is Europe’s largest nickel open cast mine, it is also known for the largest wastewater leakage in the Finnish mining history and a series of other accidents. In this paleolimnological study, influences of a recently constructed treated waste water discharge pipeline into Lake Nuasjärvi were investigated by analyzing past (pre-disturbance) and present community compositions of key aquatic organism groups, including diatoms, Cladocera and Chironomidae, along spatial (distance, water depth) gradients. In addition to defining ecological changes and impacts of saline mine waters in the lake, chironomids were used to quantitatively reconstruct bottom water oxygen conditions before and after the pipe installation (in 2015). The diatom and cladoceran communities, which reflect more the open-water habitat, showed only relatively minor changes throughout the lake, but a general decrease in diversity was observed within both groups. Chironomids, which live on substrates, showed more significant changes, including complete faunal turnovers and deteriorated benthic quality, especially at the sites close to the pipe outlet, where also chironomid diversity was almost completely lost. Furthermore, the reconstructed hypolimnetic oxygen values indicated a major oxygen decline and even anoxia at the sites near the pipe outlet. The limnoecological influence of the pipe decreased at sites located counter-flow or behind underwater barriers suggesting that the waste waters currently have location-specific impacts. Our study clearly demonstrates that whereas the upper water layers appear to have generally maintained their previous state, the deep-water layers close to the pipe outlet have lost their ecological integrity. Furthermore, the current hypolimnetic anoxia close to the pipe indicates enhanced lake stratification caused by the salinated mine waters. This study clearly exhibits the need to investigate different water bodies at several trophic levels in a spatiotemporal context ... Article in Journal/Newspaper kola peninsula HELDA – University of Helsinki Open Repository Kola Peninsula Nuasjärvi ENVELOPE(24.950,24.950,66.767,66.767) Environmental Pollution 255 113268 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
HELDA – University of Helsinki Open Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivhelsihelda |
language |
English |
topic |
1172 Environmental sciences Chironomidae Cladocera diatoms mine impact paleolimnology MIDGES DIPTERA INFERENCE MODELS SUMMER HYPOLIMNETIC OXYGEN EUTROPHICATION ECOLOGICAL INTEGRITY METAL CONTAMINATION SOUTHERN FINLAND KOLA-PENINSULA CLIMATE |
spellingShingle |
1172 Environmental sciences Chironomidae Cladocera diatoms mine impact paleolimnology MIDGES DIPTERA INFERENCE MODELS SUMMER HYPOLIMNETIC OXYGEN EUTROPHICATION ECOLOGICAL INTEGRITY METAL CONTAMINATION SOUTHERN FINLAND KOLA-PENINSULA CLIMATE Luoto, Tomi P. Leppänen, Jaakko Johannes Weckström, Jan Waste water discharge from a large Ni-Zn open cast mine degrades benthic integrity of Lake Nuasjärvi (Finland) |
topic_facet |
1172 Environmental sciences Chironomidae Cladocera diatoms mine impact paleolimnology MIDGES DIPTERA INFERENCE MODELS SUMMER HYPOLIMNETIC OXYGEN EUTROPHICATION ECOLOGICAL INTEGRITY METAL CONTAMINATION SOUTHERN FINLAND KOLA-PENINSULA CLIMATE |
description |
The Talvivaara/Terrafame multi-metal mining company is Europe’s largest nickel open cast mine, it is also known for the largest wastewater leakage in the Finnish mining history and a series of other accidents. In this paleolimnological study, influences of a recently constructed treated waste water discharge pipeline into Lake Nuasjärvi were investigated by analyzing past (pre-disturbance) and present community compositions of key aquatic organism groups, including diatoms, Cladocera and Chironomidae, along spatial (distance, water depth) gradients. In addition to defining ecological changes and impacts of saline mine waters in the lake, chironomids were used to quantitatively reconstruct bottom water oxygen conditions before and after the pipe installation (in 2015). The diatom and cladoceran communities, which reflect more the open-water habitat, showed only relatively minor changes throughout the lake, but a general decrease in diversity was observed within both groups. Chironomids, which live on substrates, showed more significant changes, including complete faunal turnovers and deteriorated benthic quality, especially at the sites close to the pipe outlet, where also chironomid diversity was almost completely lost. Furthermore, the reconstructed hypolimnetic oxygen values indicated a major oxygen decline and even anoxia at the sites near the pipe outlet. The limnoecological influence of the pipe decreased at sites located counter-flow or behind underwater barriers suggesting that the waste waters currently have location-specific impacts. Our study clearly demonstrates that whereas the upper water layers appear to have generally maintained their previous state, the deep-water layers close to the pipe outlet have lost their ecological integrity. Furthermore, the current hypolimnetic anoxia close to the pipe indicates enhanced lake stratification caused by the salinated mine waters. This study clearly exhibits the need to investigate different water bodies at several trophic levels in a spatiotemporal context ... |
author2 |
Ecosystems and Environment Research Programme Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS) Environmental Change Research Unit (ECRU) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Luoto, Tomi P. Leppänen, Jaakko Johannes Weckström, Jan |
author_facet |
Luoto, Tomi P. Leppänen, Jaakko Johannes Weckström, Jan |
author_sort |
Luoto, Tomi P. |
title |
Waste water discharge from a large Ni-Zn open cast mine degrades benthic integrity of Lake Nuasjärvi (Finland) |
title_short |
Waste water discharge from a large Ni-Zn open cast mine degrades benthic integrity of Lake Nuasjärvi (Finland) |
title_full |
Waste water discharge from a large Ni-Zn open cast mine degrades benthic integrity of Lake Nuasjärvi (Finland) |
title_fullStr |
Waste water discharge from a large Ni-Zn open cast mine degrades benthic integrity of Lake Nuasjärvi (Finland) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Waste water discharge from a large Ni-Zn open cast mine degrades benthic integrity of Lake Nuasjärvi (Finland) |
title_sort |
waste water discharge from a large ni-zn open cast mine degrades benthic integrity of lake nuasjärvi (finland) |
publisher |
ELSEVIER SCI IRELAND LTD |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10138/334444 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(24.950,24.950,66.767,66.767) |
geographic |
Kola Peninsula Nuasjärvi |
geographic_facet |
Kola Peninsula Nuasjärvi |
genre |
kola peninsula |
genre_facet |
kola peninsula |
op_relation |
10.1016/j.envpol.2019.113268 Luoto , T P , Leppänen , J J & Weckström , J 2019 , ' Waste water discharge from a large Ni-Zn open cast mine degrades benthic integrity of Lake Nuasjärvi (Finland) ' , Environmental Pollution , vol. 255 , no. Part 2 , 113268 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2019.113268 RIS: urn:91C0C519274E40693FD57A19BE2808EA ORCID: /0000-0001-6925-3688/work/66365355 ORCID: /0000-0001-5604-617X/work/66367486 df3e9a53-ae6e-45c1-b731-3d8e577c5f97 http://hdl.handle.net/10138/334444 000498340400050 |
op_rights |
cc_by_nc_nd openAccess info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
container_title |
Environmental Pollution |
container_volume |
255 |
container_start_page |
113268 |
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1787426075831173120 |