COMPARATIVE STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF DIEL CYCLES IN FE, MN, AND TRACE ELEMENT CONCENTRATIONS AT A COAL MINE DRAINAGE SITE IN HARRISON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA

Diel cycles of Fe, Mn and trace element concentrations have been identified in coal mine drainage in north-central WV. The mine water discharges from a portal into an abandoned Pittsburgh-coal mine along Lamberts Creek, a sub-basin in the West Fork Watershed. The mine portal was sealed in 2007 and the discharge now flows through a constructed wetland that was built atop a natural wetland. The water is slightly acidic (pH 5-7) at the source with high concentrations of sulfate and metals. Based on previous assessments, the cycling for yttrium and rare earth elements (YREE) was controlled by temperature-driven sorption changes linked to temperature-controlled oxidation-kinetic effects on the dissolved iron (Vesper and Smilley, 2010). In this study we compare the statistical strength of the diel relationships of Fe and the YREE along with trace elements Mn, Co, Si, Ni and As. The analysis is similar to that used by Kurz et al. (2013) for karst waters in Florida. Using this approach we compare the cycling strength of the elements relative to each other and the similarity of cycle-phases for each element. The results of this analysis are compared against a Principle Component Analysis for the same data set to see if the resulting components predict phasing comparable to that determined using the model by Kurz et al. (2013).

(Kurz, M.J., de Montety, V., Martin, J.B., Cohen, M.J., Foster, C.R., 2013. Controls on diel metal cycles in a biologically productive carbonate-dominated river. Chemical Geology, 358: 61-74; Vesper, D.J., Smilley, M.J., 2010. The distribution and diel cycling of trace and rare earth elements in a coal mine drainage treatment wetland, Lambert Run, West Virginia. Applied Geochemistry, 25(6): 795-808.)