'A biodiversity and chemical survey of a Manx mountain stream contaminated by past mining operations'
Date(s): 1997
Creator(s): Longworth, Peter
Scope & Content: Study findings from BSc Zoology fieldwork submitted to the University of Leeds. In a summer fieldwork project Longworth investigating the effects of Snaefell mine on the health of the Laxey river running down the Snaefell and Laxey valleys. Results obtained from biological and chemical investigative methods revealed the stream to be heavily polluted below the site of the mine (zinc, lead and iron found) with washed away spoil being the likely source of heavy metal contamination in the river. It is suggested that zinc is responsible for the present biotic condition of the river and that acid mine drainage is having a large impact on the river, particularly when water levels are highest during winter and spring. This would coincide with the most sensitive stages of macroinvertebrate development and have a knock on effect through the rest of the year when the water returns to apparently more normal conditions.
Language: English
Extent: 29 pages
Item name: fieldwork report
Collection: Manuscript Archive
Level: ITEM
ID number: MS 09915
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