DIATOM ANALYSIS FROM A RECLAIMED STRIP PIT

Stump Jumper Pit is a former slurry pit located within the Chinook Fish and Wildlife area in west-central Indiana. The Chinook Fish and Wildlife area is 2141 acres of grassland and reclaimed forested area. Before it was reclaimed and opened to the public in 1982, it was the site of the Chinook Coal Mine. The coal main was owned by several different companies and was in use from 1928 to the early 1980s. Lakes within the area (including Stump Jumper Pit), were pits created for surface coal mining near Vigo County and Western Clay County. A major interstate (I-70) borders the Chinook Fish and Wildlife area to the south and is adjacent to Stump Jumper Pit. Cores were collected for the study from Stump Jumper Pit because of its proximity to I-70. These cores are ideally suited to evaluate the combined impact of traffic and past mining activities. In this study, we use diatom and portable x-ray florescence (pXRF) data gathered from two short core sediments as well as samples of substrates in the lake to explore the water quality of the site since being converted to a reclamation site. We also use modern substrate samples that will be used to characterize diatom habitats from sites within the lake. Combined, these tools will help us explore the potential influence of acid leakage into the lake, vehicle pollution (from I-70), and human activity at the site.