Global ecosystem typology

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SF2.2 Flooded mines and other voids

Biome: SF2. Anthropogenic subterranean freshwaters biome

Contributors:
(texts)

Disused subterranean mines and other voids may fill with static or slowing moving water from seepage. The inhabitants of these ecosystems include biofilms comprising bacteria, aquatic fungi and protists that originated as colonists from surrounding groundwaters, or imported with people. As well as the lack of light and low nutrient levels, productivity and diversity may be limited by heavy metals and toxins liberated during construction and mining of the voids.

Key Features

Underground largely static low-productivity waterbodies often with large of warm groundwater or seepage, colonised by opportunistic microbes and invertebrates.

Overview of distribution

Common in mineral rich regions of the world.

Profile versions

Main references

Selected references for this functional group:

  • Nuttall, CA; Younger, PL (2004) Hydrochemical stratification in flooded underground mines: an overlooked pitfall Journal of Contaminant Hydrology 69, 101-114 DOI:10.1016/s0169-7722(03)00152-9

  • Roesler AJ, Gammons CH, Druschel GK et al. (2007) Geochemistry of flooded underground mine workings influenced by bacterial sulfate reduction Aquatic Geochemistry 13, 211–235 DOI:10.1007/s10498-007-9017-9

  • Wright IA, Paciuszkiewicz K, Belmer N (2018) Increased water pollution after closure of Australia’s longest operating underground coal mine: a 13-month study of mine drainage, water chemistry and river ecology Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 229, 55 DOI:10.1007/s11270-018-3718-0

Diagrammatic assembly model

Diagrammatic assembly model of SF2.2 Flooded mines and other voids. See general notes on diagrams. Open image full size.

Maps

Maps are indicative of global distribution patterns are not intended to represent fine-scale patterns. The maps show areas of the world containing major (coloured red) or minor occurrences (coloured yellow) of each ecosystem functional group. See general notes on maps.

There are 2 alternative versions of the indicative map for this functional group, please compare description and sources below.

SF2.2.IM.orig_v1.0

Datasets

  • USGS-MRDS
  • UNEXMIN
  • Resolve-Ecoregions-2017

Map references

  • McFaul, E.J., Mason, G.T., Ferguson, W.B., and Lipin, B.R. (2000) U.S. Geological Survey mineral databases; MRDS and MAS/MILS USGS Data Series 52 DOI:10.3133/ds52

  • Stasi, Giorgia; Fernandez, Isable, Müller, Peter (2018) UNEXMIN D5.4 - Inventory of Flooded Mines UNEXMIN deliverable

  • Dinerstein E, Olson D, Joshi A, Vynne C, Burgess ND, Wikramanayake E, Hahn N, Palminteri S, Hedao P, Noss R, Hansen M, Locke H, Ellis EE, Jones B, Barber CV, Hayes R, Kormos C, Martin V, Crist E, Sechrest W, Price L, Baillie JEM, Weeden D, Suckling K, Davis C, Sizer N, Moore R, Thau D, Birch T, Potapov P, Turubanova S, Tyukavina A, de Souza N, Pintea L, Brito JC, Llewellyn Barnekow Lillesø JP, van Breugel P, Graudal L, Voge M, Al-Shammari KF, Saleem M (2017) An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience 67: 534–545. DOI:10.1093/biosci/bix014. Data-set available on-line

SF2.2.web.orig_v1.0

Point records of flooded mines were compiled from public databases (https://www.unexmin.eu/the-european-inventory-of-flooded-mines-is-now-online/), an internet search for "flooded mines" and locations of deep mines inferred from world mineral resources spatial data (USGS: https://mrdata.usgs.gov/). Terrestrial ecoregions (Dinerstein et al. 2017) with concentrations of these records were selected to represent an indicative global distribution of flooded mines at 30 arc seconds spatial resolution. Open image full size.

Datasets

  • Resolve-Ecoregions-2017

Map references

  • Dinerstein E, Olson D, Joshi A, Vynne C, Burgess ND, Wikramanayake E, Hahn N, Palminteri S, Hedao P, Noss R, Hansen M, Locke H, Ellis EE, Jones B, Barber CV, Hayes R, Kormos C, Martin V, Crist E, Sechrest W, Price L, Baillie JEM, Weeden D, Suckling K, Davis C, Sizer N, Moore R, Thau D, Birch T, Potapov P, Turubanova S, Tyukavina A, de Souza N, Pintea L, Brito JC, Llewellyn Barnekow Lillesø JP, van Breugel P, Graudal L, Voge M, Al-Shammari KF, Saleem M (2017) An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience 67: 534–545. DOI:10.1093/biosci/bix014. Data-set available on-line

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