Characteristics and impact of aged coal ash with slag emplaced in a karst cave: the case of Divaška jama, Slovenia

Abstract A mixture of coal bottom ash and slag, with a fraction of fly ash (CAFAS) from steam locomotives, was placed in the cave Divaška jama to delimit and level tourist trails. Emplacement began in 1914 and carried on for several decades. The CAFAS mixed with other cave material gradually changed...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Andreea Oarga-Mulec, Sara Skok, Tatjana Simčič, Janez Mulec
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/ea57cce6e84d4b0ab36379b8811b7d88
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:ea57cce6e84d4b0ab36379b8811b7d88
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:ea57cce6e84d4b0ab36379b8811b7d882021-12-05T12:11:32ZCharacteristics and impact of aged coal ash with slag emplaced in a karst cave: the case of Divaška jama, Slovenia10.1038/s41598-021-02842-72045-2322https://doaj.org/article/ea57cce6e84d4b0ab36379b8811b7d882021-12-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-02842-7https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract A mixture of coal bottom ash and slag, with a fraction of fly ash (CAFAS) from steam locomotives, was placed in the cave Divaška jama to delimit and level tourist trails. Emplacement began in 1914 and carried on for several decades. The CAFAS mixed with other cave material gradually changed its structure and appearance. Currently the concentration of some elements in the CAFAS (As, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Zn), and also to a lesser extent in cave sediments (Cr, Cu, Ni), indicates a possibly harmful effect on sediment-associated biota based on ecotoxicological assays. Compared to the cave sediment, the CAFAS contains distinctly different mineral phases and presents a different source of radioactivity. Microbial metabolic activity of CAFAS is low, 0.22 μl O2/gDW h, but higher than that of cave sediment. The present environmental hazards from CAFAS are estimated to be low. Whereas the emplacement of CAFAS was seen initially a long-term solution for waste disposal and management of the cave, it turned out that CAFAS enriches the underground environment with inorganic and organic compounds and disperses pollution into the cave ecosystem. After its removal from the cave, the CAFAS should be investigated thoroughly due to its susceptibility to alteration.Andreea Oarga-MulecSara SkokTatjana SimčičJanez MulecNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Andreea Oarga-Mulec Sara Skok Tatjana Simčič Janez Mulec Characteristics and impact of aged coal ash with slag emplaced in a karst cave: the case of Divaška jama, Slovenia
description	Abstract A mixture of coal bottom ash and slag, with a fraction of fly ash (CAFAS) from steam locomotives, was placed in the cave Divaška jama to delimit and level tourist trails. Emplacement began in 1914 and carried on for several decades. The CAFAS mixed with other cave material gradually changed its structure and appearance. Currently the concentration of some elements in the CAFAS (As, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Zn), and also to a lesser extent in cave sediments (Cr, Cu, Ni), indicates a possibly harmful effect on sediment-associated biota based on ecotoxicological assays. Compared to the cave sediment, the CAFAS contains distinctly different mineral phases and presents a different source of radioactivity. Microbial metabolic activity of CAFAS is low, 0.22 μl O2/gDW h, but higher than that of cave sediment. The present environmental hazards from CAFAS are estimated to be low. Whereas the emplacement of CAFAS was seen initially a long-term solution for waste disposal and management of the cave, it turned out that CAFAS enriches the underground environment with inorganic and organic compounds and disperses pollution into the cave ecosystem. After its removal from the cave, the CAFAS should be investigated thoroughly due to its susceptibility to alteration.
format	article
author	Andreea Oarga-Mulec Sara Skok Tatjana Simčič Janez Mulec
author_facet	Andreea Oarga-Mulec Sara Skok Tatjana Simčič Janez Mulec
author_sort	Andreea Oarga-Mulec
title	Characteristics and impact of aged coal ash with slag emplaced in a karst cave: the case of Divaška jama, Slovenia
title_short	Characteristics and impact of aged coal ash with slag emplaced in a karst cave: the case of Divaška jama, Slovenia
title_full	Characteristics and impact of aged coal ash with slag emplaced in a karst cave: the case of Divaška jama, Slovenia
title_fullStr	Characteristics and impact of aged coal ash with slag emplaced in a karst cave: the case of Divaška jama, Slovenia
title_full_unstemmed	Characteristics and impact of aged coal ash with slag emplaced in a karst cave: the case of Divaška jama, Slovenia
title_sort	characteristics and impact of aged coal ash with slag emplaced in a karst cave: the case of divaška jama, slovenia
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/ea57cce6e84d4b0ab36379b8811b7d88
work_keys_str_mv	AT andreeaoargamulec characteristicsandimpactofagedcoalashwithslagemplacedinakarstcavethecaseofdivaskajamaslovenia AT saraskok characteristicsandimpactofagedcoalashwithslagemplacedinakarstcavethecaseofdivaskajamaslovenia AT tatjanasimcic characteristicsandimpactofagedcoalashwithslagemplacedinakarstcavethecaseofdivaskajamaslovenia AT janezmulec characteristicsandimpactofagedcoalashwithslagemplacedinakarstcavethecaseofdivaskajamaslovenia
_version_	1718372168977350656

Characteristics and impact of aged coal ash with slag emplaced in a karst cave: the case of Divaška jama, Slovenia

Ejemplares similares