StormFlux: Effect of Storm Babet on Pollution Fluxes from Remobilised Mine Wastes

StormFlux：巴贝风暴对回收矿山废物污染通量的影响

• 批准号: NE/Y006518/1
• 负责人: Ian Burke
• 金额: $ 9.88万
• 依托单位: University of Leeds
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2024 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FY006518%2F1
• 关键词: StormFlux; Effect; Storm; Babet; Pollution

Historical wastes disposed in coastal zones are increasingly vulnerable to remobilisation via erosion and seawater inundation including ~2000 Ha of unprotected mining wastes dumped along the Northumbrian River Basin District Coast. Storm Babet, 18-21 Oct 2023, was highly unusual in that prolonged easterly winds caused extraordinarily high waves averaging >4m for six consecutive high tides. This led to mine wastes on the NE coastline being affected by extensive seawater flooding and erosion. This project aims to use Seaham Beach, a coastal waste site on the Co. Durham coast, as a case study location to explore the impact of damaging storms on coastal waste sites in terms of geomorphological behaviour, and potential pollution fluxes into adjacent ecosystems from the remobilised material. There is now an urgent need to sample and analyse this freshly exposed waste, alongside further measurements of geomorphic change, to determine (1) the pollution potential and geochemistry of the newly exposed waste, (2) the absolute flux of contaminant metals to the North Sea that occurred during Storm Babet, and (3) the short- to medium- term impacts of the storm event on adjacent beach environments. Given the rapidly changing geomorphic and geochemical nature of these beach-deposited wastes (e.g. as newly exposed wastes oxidise), there is a pressing need to undertake this research now, while the most significant changes to the waste, and impacts from its mobilisation, are most evident. This information will help inform local and national stakeholders on the potential behaviour of similar unprotected coastal wastes and their possible impacts on nearshore marine communities. More generally the data will assess how sediment erosion, in response to more intense storm events due to climate change, may lead to increasing waste mobilisation; this information is vital for re-evaluation of shoreline management plans, including consideration of improved sea defences.

沿海地区处置的历史废物越来越容易因侵蚀和海水淹没而被重新利用，其中包括沿诺森布里亚河流域地区海岸倾倒的约 2000 公顷未受保护的采矿废物。 2023 年 10 月 18 日至 21 日发生的风暴“巴贝特”非常不寻常，因为长时间的东风导致连续六次涨潮，造成异常高的波浪，平均>4m。这导致东北海岸线上的矿山废物受到大面积海水淹没和侵蚀的影响。该项目旨在以达勒姆郡海岸的一个沿海废物场 Seaham 海滩为案例研究地点，探讨破坏性风暴对沿海废物场地貌行为的影响，以及从该海滩进入邻近生态系统的潜在污染通量。重新动员的材料。现在迫切需要对这些新暴露的废物进行采样和分析，同时进一步测量地貌变化，以确定（1）新暴露的废物的污染潜力和地球化学，（2）污染物金属流向北方的绝对通量巴贝特风暴期间发生的海域，以及（3）风暴事件对邻近海滩环境的中短期影响。鉴于这些海滩沉积废物的地貌和地球化学性质迅速变化（例如，随着新暴露的废物氧化），现在迫切需要进行这项研究，而废物最显着的变化及其流动的影响是最明显。这些信息将有助于向地方和国家利益相关者通报类似未受保护的沿海废物的潜在行为及其对近岸海洋社区可能产生的影响。更一般地说，这些数据将评估沉积物侵蚀，以应对气候变化引起的更强烈的风暴事件，如何导致废物动员的增加；这一信息对于重新评估海岸线管理计划，包括考虑改进海上防御至关重要。