Fuzzy Logic Tools Application to the Characterization of Stress-Strain Processes in Waste Construction Dam Geopolymers: A New Circular Mining.

The ceramics industry dedicated to the manufacture of building materials is a very significant cause of environmental pollution, and various research projects are being carried out to reduce the associated environmental impact. One of the most important research lines is the generation and development of new materials, from waste, through more sustainable production processes. All of this is framed in circular mining.

Acid Mine Drainage Effects in the Hydrobiology of Freshwater Streams from Three Mining Areas (SW Portugal): A Statistical Approach.

Aljustrel, Lousal and S. Domingos mines are located in the Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB), one of the greatest massive sulfide ore deposits worldwide. These mines' surrounding streams are affected by Acid Mine Drainage (AMD).

Biogeochemical indicators (waters/diatoms) of acid mine drainage pollution in the Odiel river (Iberian Pyritic Belt, SW Spain).

Odiel river basin is located in the Iberian Pyritic Belt (IPB) and mostly of its tributaries are severely affected by acid mine drainage (AMD). It is originated when pyritic minerals from abandoned mines, especially mineral residues from waste rock dams, get in contact with air and water. Fifteen sampling points were chosen to analyze interactions between diatom communities and water hydrogeochemistry.

Extremely Acidic Eukaryotic (Micro) Organisms: Life in Acid Mine Drainage Polluted Environments-Mini-Review.

Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) results from sulfide oxidation, which incorporates hydrogen ions, sulfate, and metals/metalloids into the aquatic environment, allowing fixation, bioaccumulation and biomagnification of pollutants in the aquatic food chain. Acidic leachates from waste rock dams from pyritic and (to a lesser extent) coal mining are the main foci of Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) production. When AMD is incorporated into rivers, notable changes in water hydro-geochemistry and biota are observed.

Odiel River (SW Spain), a Singular Scenario Affected by Acid Mine Drainage (AMD): Graphical and Statistical Models to Assess Diatoms and Water Hydrogeochemistry Interactions.

The Odiel River (SW Spain) is one of the most cited rivers in the scientific literature due to its high pollution degree, generated by more than 80 sulphide mines' (mostly unrestored) contamination in the Iberian Pyritic Belt (IPB), that have been exploited for more than 5000 years. Along the river and its tributaries, the physico-chemical parameters and diatoms, from 15 sampling points, were analyzed in the laboratory. Physico-chemical parameters, water chemical analysis, together with richness and Shannon-Wiener indexes were integrated in a matrix.

Prokaryotic and eukaryotic diversity in hydrothermal continental systems.

The term extremophile was suggested more than 30 years ago and represents microorganisms that are capable of developing and living under extreme conditions, these conditions being particularly hostile to other types of microorganisms and to humankind. In terrestrial hydrothermal sites, like hot springs, "mud pools", solfataras, and geysers, the dominant extreme conditions are high temperature, low or high pH, and high levels of salinity. The diversity of microorganisms inhabiting these sites is determined by the conditions of the environment.

Application of a Fuzzy Logic Based Methodology to Validate the Hydrochemical Characterization and Determining Seasonal Influence of a Watershed Affected by Acid Mine Drainage.

The Odiel River Basin, located in the Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB), is heavily affected by acid mine drainage (AMD), which occurs when pyritic minerals from sulfide mining areas are exposed to atmospheric, hydrological or biological weathering. This paper presents a hydrochemical characterization of parameters in the Odiel River Basin by means of Fuzzy Logic and data mining methodologies to determine the seasonal influence of AMD in polluted waters that have not been used before for a basin in this environmental area. This technique was proven to be effective, providing results that could not be achieved by using classic statistics, because it allows us to characterize the different parameters separately and also their relationships in waters affected by AMD in a qualitative manner based on the antecedents and according to the conditions (rules) imposed by the consequents (in this case, the Fe(II) and accumulated rainfall over 30 days).

Acid Mine Drainage as Energizing Microbial Niches for the Formation of Iron Stromatolites: The Tintillo River in Southwest Spain.

The Iberian Pyrite Belt in southwest Spain hosts some of the largest and diverse extreme acidic environments with textural variation across rapidly changing biogeochemical gradients at multiple scales. After almost three decades of studies, mostly focused on molecular evolution and metagenomics, there is an increasing awareness of the multidisciplinary potential of these types of settings, especially for astrobiology. Since modern automatized exploration on extraterrestrial surfaces is essentially based on the morphological recognition of biosignatures, a macroscopic characterization of such sedimentary extreme environments and how they look is crucial to identify life properties, but it is a perspective that most molecular approaches frequently miss.

Testing the response of benthic diatom assemblages to common riverine contaminants.

Benthic diatoms constitute keystone assemblages in riverine ecosystems, and their structure is used to support regulatory water quality assessment. However, no standard ecotoxicological tests exist using integrated responses of the benthic diatom assemblages. This work aimed to assess whether benthic diatom assemblages are responsive to different riverine contaminants through a previously developed rapid toxicity test, supporting future attempts towards its standardization and integration in both prospective and retrospective Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA) schemes.

Physico-Chemical Influence of Surface Water Contaminated by Acid Mine Drainage on the Populations of Diatoms in Dams (Iberian Pyrite Belt, SW Spain).

Twenty-three water dams located in the Iberian Pyrite Belt were studied during March 2012 (early spring) in order to carry out an environmental assessment based on diatom communities and to define the relationships between these biological communities and the physico-chemical characteristics of the dam surface water. This is the first time that a diatom inventory has been done for dams affected by acid mine drainage (AMD) in the Spanish part of the Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB). It was found that the pH was the main factor influencing the behaviour of the diatom communities.

The UNESCO national biosphere reserve (Marismas del Odiel, SW Spain): an area of 18,875 ha affected by mining waste.

At the mouth of the Odiel River, within the Natural Area "Marismas del Odiel", there has been for years a collection of waste from different mining sites. In the present work, an approach has been made to the problem that this supposes, quantifying the pollutants that are poured into the estuary from the mineral collection located on the banks of the river. The study carried out has been able to determine high metal concentrations, comparable with any rubble from the upstream mines, with pH value of 1.

Using flow cytometry for bacterioplankton community analysis as a complementary tool to Water Framework Directive to signal putatively impacted sites.

Metal contamination, as well as pesticides, organic matter and nutrient input are main factors leading to freshwater ecosystems degradation. The Water Framework Directive (WFD) was implemented within the European Union with the ultimate goal of promoting a good ecological status in all European waterbodies. However, the broad implementation of the bioassessment behind WFD is costly and time-consuming and the search for complementary methodologies has been given significant attention.

Extremely acidic environment: Biogeochemical effects on algal biofilms.

The biological responses of acidobiontic species to extremely acidic waters, as those related with Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) processes, are relevant not only to understand the toxicological degree of the waters as well as the mechanisms responsible for the survival and adaptation of such organisms. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of acidic pH and metals in biofilms collected in two sites a lentic permanent acid pond (AP) and a temporary acid stream (AS) affected by Acid Mine Drainage (AMD), and taking as control (C), an uncontaminated site with circumneutral pH. The results showed typical conditions of AMD-contaminated waters in sites AS and AP (pH < 3 and high concentrations of Al, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb and Zn), which are responsible for a substantial decrease in biomass and biodiversity of biofilms (with a dominance of acidobiontic species, such as Pinnularia aljustrelica and Eunotia exigua, comparing to the control site.

Negative pH values in an open-air radical environment affected by acid mine drainage. Characterization and proposal of a hydrogeochemical model.

This paper presents the finding of a singular environment polluted by acid mine drainage in the Iberian Pyrite Belt. This situation is regulated by particular conditions, thus the analysed values can be considered as extreme, not only because of the high concentrations of toxic elements, but also due to the extreme low pH, reaching an average negative pH of -1.56, never found before in open-air environments contaminated by acid mine drainage.

Biogeochemical characterization of surface waters in the Aljustrel mining area (South Portugal).

Aljustrel mining area (South Portugal) is a part of the Iberian Pyrite Belt and encloses six sulfide mineral masses. This mine is classified of high environmental risk due to the large tailings' volume and acid mine drainage (AMD)-affected waters generated by sulfides' oxidation. The use of biological indicators (e.

Integrating geochemical (surface waters, stream sediments) and biological (diatoms) approaches to assess AMD environmental impact in a pyritic mining area: Aljustrel (Alentejo, Portugal).

Aljustrel mines were classified as having high environmental hazard due to their large tailings volume and high metal concentrations in waters and sediments. To assess acid mine drainage impacted systems whose environmental conditions change quickly, the use of biological indicators with short generation time such as diatoms is advantageous. This study combined geochemical and diatom data, whose results were highlighted in 3 groups: Group 1, with low pH (1.

Experimental evaluation of the contribution of acidic pH and Fe concentration to the structure, function and tolerance to metals (Cu and Zn) exposure in fluvial biofilms.

An indoor channel system was colonised with fluvial biofilms to study the chronic effects of high Fe and SO4(2-) concentrations and acidic pH, the water chemistry in the surrounding streams of Aljustrel mining area (Alentejo, Portugal), and their contribution to community (in)tolerance to metal toxicity by short-term experiments with Cu and Zn. Biofilms were subjected to four different treatments during 8 weeks: high Fe and SO4(2-) concentrations (1 mg Fe l(-1)+ 700 mg SO4(2-) l(-1)) and acidic pH, high Fe and SO4(2-) at alkaline pH; lower Fe and SO4(2-) at acidic pH: and lower Fe and SO4(2-) concentrations at alkaline pH as negative control. During chronic exposure, acidic pH affected growth negatively, based on low values of algal biomass and the autotrophic index, high values of the antioxidant enzyme activities and low diversity diatom communities, dominated by acidophilic species (Pinnularia aljustrelica) in acidic treatments, being the effects more marked with high Fe and SO4(2-).

Can nutrients mask community responses to insecticide mixtures?

The ecological effect of simultaneous exposure to two nutrient gradients, three insecticides and different predator intensities was investigated over a 3-week period in 80 outdoor, artificial streams using field-collected benthic invertebrates. The experimental design consisted of a 2 × 5 factorial structure with two nutrient levels (oligotrophic or mesotrophic) and five concentrations of the ternary insecticide mixture consisting of the insecticides (chlorpyrifos, dimethoate and imidacloprid). Equivalent toxic unit doses were summed to create a ternary insecticide dose (e.

Environmental impact of mining activities in the Lousal area (Portugal): chemical and diatom characterization of metal-contaminated stream sediments and surface water of Corona stream.

Lousal mine is a typical "abandoned mine" with all sorts of problems as consequence of the cessation of the mining activity and lack of infrastructure maintenance. The mine is closed at present, but the heavy metal enriched tailings remain at the surface in oxidizing conditions. Surface water and stream sediments revealed much higher concentrations than the local geochemical background values, which the "Contaminated Sediment Standing Team" classifies as very toxic.

Heavy metal pollution downstream the abandoned Coval da Mó mine (Portugal) and associated effects on epilithic diatom communities.

This study examined trace-element concentrations in 39 sediment samples collected in the vicinity of the abandoned Coval da Mó mine, and evaluated the anthropogenic contaminant effects and other environmental variables in the taxonomic composition, structure and morphological changes of benthic diatom communities. The results show the existence of extremely high contamination in Pb, Zn and Cd (the mean values exceed the background values 376, 96 and 19 times, respectively) on the first 2.5 km in the water flow direction.