An integrated modeling approach for mineral and metal transport in acidic rivers at high mountainous porphyry Cu systems

•Mineral precipitation is a key process for representing hydrochemistry in ARD systems.•In ARD systems, hydrology and hydrochemistry are strongly correlated.•Our model shows to reproduce real mineralogical and chemical processes.•Our approach provides a tool to understand and predict water quality i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of hydrology (Amsterdam) 2021-11, Vol.602, p.126718, Article 126718
Main Authors: Zegers, Gerardo, Navarro-Valdivia, Leonardo, Lagos-Zuñiga, Miguel, Navarrete-Calvo, Alvaro, Caraballo, Manuel A., Niño, Yarko, McPhee, James, Montserrat, Santiago
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acid rock drainage (ARD)
Hydrodynamics
Hydrogeochemistry
Integrated numerical modeling
Reactive transport model
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Summary:•Mineral precipitation is a key process for representing hydrochemistry in ARD systems.•In ARD systems, hydrology and hydrochemistry are strongly correlated.•Our model shows to reproduce real mineralogical and chemical processes.•Our approach provides a tool to understand and predict water quality in ARD systems. The natural occurrence of acid waters in mountainous porphyry Cu systems poses challenges for water management considering the increasing water demand and global environmental change. Unraveling the transport and fate of minerals and metals in these types of acidic river systems is crucial for environmental management. To this purpose, we develop a transport and a hydrogeochemical model by coupling five components: (i) hydrology; (ii) hydrodynamics; (iii) sediment transport; (iv) solute transport; and (v) hydrogeochemistry. Our study domain is the Yerba Loca creek, a high-altitude acid rock drainage (ARD) basin located in the central Andes, Chile. Water in the upper basin shows a low pH (around 3) and high aluminum, copper, iron, manganese, and sulfate concentrations. Our model reproduced the observed mineralogical and chemical processes by inducing the expected pH dependence on mineral precipitation along the river. Results showed good agreement between modeled and field data, highlighting the main processes that control the transport and fate of minerals and metals in mountainous river systems.
ISSN:0022-1694
1879-2707
DOI:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2021.126718