Assessing the groundwater dependence of valley bottom wetlands in coal-mining environment using multiple environmental tracers, Mpumalanga, South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tebogo Madlala ◽  
Thokozani Kanyerere ◽  
Paul Oberholster ◽  
Mike Butler
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Coal Mining ◽  
Environmental Tracers ◽  
Valley Bottom ◽  
Mining Environment

scholarly journals Influence of basin connectivity on sediment source, transport, and storage within the Mkabela Basin, South Africa

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 10151-10204 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. R. Miller ◽  
G. Mackin ◽  
P. Lechler ◽  
M. Lord ◽  
S. Lorentz
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Best Management Practices ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Drainage System ◽  
Sediment Source ◽  
Riparian Wetlands ◽  
Valley Bottom ◽  
Sediment Size ◽  
Catchment Areas ◽  
And Storage

Abstract. The management of sediment and other non-point source (NPS) pollution has proven difficult, and requires a sound understanding of particle movement through the drainage system. The primary objective of this investigation was to obtain an understanding of NPS sediment source(s), transport, and storage within the Mkabela basin, a representative agricultural catchment within the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands of southeastern South Africa, by combining geomorphic, hydrologic and geochemical fingerprinting analyses. The Mkabela Basin can be subdivided into three distinct subcatchments that differ in their ability to transport and store sediment along the axial valley. Headwater (upper catchment) areas are characterized by extensive wetlands that act as significant sediment sinks. Mid-catchment areas, characterized by higher relief and valley gradients, exhibit few wetlands, but rather are dominated by a combination of alluvial and bedrock channels that are conducive to sediment transport. The lower catchment exhibits a low-gradient alluvial channel that is boarded by extensive riparian wetlands that accumulate large quantities of sediment (and NPS pollutants). Fingerprinting studies suggest that silt- and clay-rich layers found within wetland and reservoir deposits are derived from the erosion of fine-grained, valley bottom soils frequently utilized as vegetable fields. Coarser-grained deposits within both wetlands and reservoirs result from the erosion of sandier hillslope soils extensively utilized for sugar cane, during relatively high magnitude runoff events that are capable of transporting sand-sized sediment off the slopes. Thus, the source of sediment to the axial valley varies as a function of sediment size and runoff magnitude. Sediment export from the basin was limited until the early 1990s, in part because the upper catchment wetlands were hydrologically disconnected from lower parts of the watershed during low- to moderate flood events. The construction of a drainage ditch through a previously unchanneled wetland altered the hydrologic connectivity of the catchment, allowing sediment to be transported from the headwaters to the lower basin where much of it was deposited within the riparian wetlands. The axial drainage system is now geomorphically and hydrologically connected during most events throughout the study basin. The study indicates that increased valley connectivity partly negated the positive benefits of controlling sediment/nutrient exports from the catchment by means of upland based, best management practices.

scholarly journals Competition for Land: The Water-Energy-Food Nexus and Coal Mining in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gareth B. Simpson ◽  
Jessica Badenhorst ◽  
Graham P. W. Jewitt ◽  
Marit Berchner ◽  
Ellen Davies
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Coal Mining ◽  
Mpumalanga Province

scholarly journals Data Acquisition Using IoT to Monitor Coal Mining Environment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Savitha ◽  
N A Deepak ◽  
D J Deepak
Keyword(s):  
Data Acquisition ◽  
Coal Mining ◽  
Mining Environment

scholarly journals Sustainable Mining Environment: Technical Review of Post-mining Plans

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Restu Juniah
Keyword(s):  
Coal Mining ◽  
Government Regulation ◽  
Mining Industry ◽  
Motor Vehicles ◽  
Production Operation ◽  
Forest Zone ◽  
Sustainable Mining ◽  
Mining Companies ◽  
Mining Environment ◽  
Radioactive Minerals

The mining industry exists because humans need mining commodities to meet their daily needs such as motor vehicles, mobile phones, electronic equipment and others. Mining commodities as mentioned in Government Regulation No. 23 of 2010 on Implementation of Mineral and Coal Mining Business Activities are radioactive minerals, metal minerals, nonmetallic minerals, rocks and coal. Mineral and coal mining is conducted to obtain the mining commodities through production operations. Mining and coal mining companies have an obligation to ensure that the mining environment in particular after the post production operation or post mining continues. The survey research aims to examine technically the post-mining plan in coal mining of PT Samantaka Batubara in Indragiri Hulu Regency of Riau Province towards the sustainability of the mining environment. The results indicate that the post-mining plan of PT Samantaka Batubara has met the technical aspects required in post mining planning for a sustainable mining environment. Postponement of post-mining land of PT Samantaka Batubara for garden and forest zone. The results of this study are expected to be useful and can be used by stakeholders, academics, researchers, practitioners and associations of mining, and the environment.

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