A study on heavy metals contamination of surfacial materials by environmental magnetism and chemical analysis in Antaibao Open Pit Coal Mine, Shanxi Province, China

¹ Environmental Science and Engineering College, Yangzhou University, Jiangsu province, Yangzhou, 225127, China
² Research Center for Scientific Development in Fenhe River Valley, Taiyuan Normal University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, 030012, China
³ State Key Lab. of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University (ECNU) Shanghai 200062, China

^* Corresponding author: mrchen@yzu.edu.cn

Abstract

Antaibao Open Pit Coal Mine(AOPCM)'s mining activities have caused heavy metals contamination of surface, so it was urgent task to find a suitable method and survey full and prompt and long-term monitor on the heavy metals pollution. We chose methods of environmental magnetism and chemical analysis to analyze the surface materials on heavy metals contamination, by correlation of magnetic parameters and contents of chemical analysis, we can greatly reduce workload of chemical analysis and then achieve greater, faster, better, non-destructive, less chemical pollution and more economical results. The magnetic parameters and its groups act as proxy for the contents from chemical analysis. Three different sample areas sediments: loess or loess-like sediments, sedimentary rocks and alluvium, samples have different values of magnetic parameters. The values of magnetic susceptibility in this study were lower than others sediments and soils, secondly, the base rock and sedimentary rocks from the FD were of lower values of magnetic susceptibility than others of AOPCM. Contamination of Pb and Cd are more serious than other heavy metals. we can infer the contaminated level of anthropogenic heavy metals, DS > OD > FD. The mechanism may be mainly by the origin of the magnetic fraction in the anthropogenic particulate pollution and connected with the high-temperature technological processes during production and/or processing materials which have significant Fe content. Another point, when we want to study mechanism of magnetic properties used as proxy of heavy metals, the weak magnetic samples were measured and analyzed, we should be carefully.