| Abstract: | The Roubidoux aquifer in Ottawa County Oklahoma is used extensively as a source of water for public supplies, commerce, industry, and rural water districts. Water in the Roubidoux aquifer in eastern Ottawa County has relatively low dissolved-solids concentrations (less than 200 mg/L) with calcium, magnesium, and bicarbonate as the major ions. The Boone Formation is stratigraphically above the Roubidoux aquifer and is the host rock for zinc and lead sulfide ores, with the richest deposits located in the vicinity of the City of Picher. Mining in what became known as the Picher mining district began in the early 1900‘s and continued until about 1970. The water in the abandoned zinc and lead mines contains high concentrations of calcium, magnesium, bicarbonate, sulfate, fluoride, cadmium, copper, iron, lead, manganese, nickel, and zinc. Water from the abandoned mines is a potential source of contamination to the Roubidoux aquifer and to wells completed in the Roubidoux aquifer.
Water samples were collected from wells completed in the Roubidoux aquifer in the Picher mining district and from wells outside the mining district to determine if 10 public supply wells in the mining district are contaminated. The chemical analyses indicate that at least 7 of the 10 public supply wells in the Picher mining district are contaminated by mine water. Application of the Mann-Whitney test indicated that the concentrations of some chemical constituents that are indicators of mine-water contamination are different in water samples from wells in the mining area as compared to wells outside the mining area. Application of the Wilcoxon signed-rank test showed that the concentrations of some chemical constituents that are indicators of mine-water contamination were higher in current (1992-93) data than in historic (1981-83) data, except for pH, which was lower in current than in historic data. pH and sulfate, alkalinity, bicarbonate, magnesium, iron, and tritium concentrations consistently indicate that the Cardin, Commerce 1, Commerce 3, Picher 2, Picher 3, Picher 4, and Quapaw 2 wells are contaminated. |
| Genre: | USGS Numbered Series |
| ProdID: | 26574 |
| Citation Author: | Christenson, Scott C. |
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| Citation Language: | ENGLISH |
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| Citation Phsyical Description: | vi, 114 p. :ill., maps ;28 cm. |
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| Citation Publisher: | U.S. Geological Survey ;
Earth Science Information Center, Open-File Reports Section [distributor], |
| Citation Series: | Water-Resources Investigations Report |
| Citation Series Code: | WRI |
| Citation Series Number: | 95-4150 |
| Citation Search Results Text: | Contamination of wells completed in the Roubidoux aquifer by abandoned zinc and lead mines, Ottawa County, Oklahoma; 1995; WRI; 95-4150; Christenson, Scott C. |
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| Citation Year: | 1995 |
| Type: | citation/reference |
| Text: | Contamination of wells completed in the Roubidoux aquifer by abandoned zinc and lead mines, Ottawa County, Oklahoma; 1995; WRI; 95-4150; Christenson, Scott C. |
| URL (THUMBNAIL): | http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/thumbnails/wri_95_4150.jpg |
| URL (INDEX PAGE): | http://pubs.water.usgs.gov/wri954150/ |
| Date Other: | Wed, 1 Oct 1997 00:00 -0500 |
| Publisher: | U.S. Geological Survey ;
Earth Science Information Center, Open-File Reports Section [distributor], |
