Identifying potential groundwater contamination by mining influenced water (MIW) using flow measurements in a sub-catchment of the “Cradle of Humankind” UNESCO World Heritage Site, South Africa
2022
Mugova, Elke | Wolkersdorfer, Christian
To assess the potential risk of Mining Influenced Water (MIW) contaminating the “Cradle of Humankind” UNESCO World Heritage site (“Fossil Hominid Sites of South Africa”), flow measurements were conducted in the Tweelopiespruit, a stream influenced by treated mine water from abandoned gold mines in the Witwatersrand gold fields (South Africa). A possible negative influence of the caves by MIW infiltrating into the dolostone aquifer was investigated by conducting flow measurements at different stream locations between June 2014 and February 2019 using the salt dilution method via sudden injection (‘gulp method’). Both logging approaches, the manual method using a multi-meter and the automatic device using probes connected to a data-logger, show reasonable and comparable results in the turbulent flow regime. The general flow increases along the course of the Tweelopiespruit rivulet and only minor localized discharge losses can be observed. An immediate danger for the caves of the “Fossil Hominid Sites of South Africa” from infiltrating polluted mine water cannot be postulated, though smaller amounts of the stream water seem to infiltrate into the dolomitic aquifer.
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