Stream pollution by adjacent tailing deposits and fluvial transport of dissolved uranium - dynamics and mechanisms investigated in mining areas of Germany, Southern Africa and Australia

Abstract

Although the transport of solute uranium (U) from tailings deposits in adjacent streams is one of the fastest ways of distributing U throughout the biosphere it cannot yet be sufficiently modeled. By comparing U-mining sites in different physical-geographical environments this study discusses factors controlling the migration of solute U along the aqueous pathway and within streams. It focuses on three major aspects of the transport, illustrated by examples from study sites: