Charles N Alpers
Since 1991, as a Research Chemist with USGS, Dr. Alpers has led numerous water-quality investigations involving the environmental effects of historical mining.
This work has included research on acid mine drainage at the Iron Mountain Superfund site, including documentation of negative-pH water and associated sulfate minerals. Since 1999, he has been lead scientist for several multi-disciplinary studies regarding mercury contamination, transport, and bioaccumulation associated with historical gold mining in the Sierra Nevada and Coast Ranges of California. He is also investigating arsenic bioavailability and bioaccessibility in gold-mine waste at the Empire Mine in Grass Valley, California as part of a multi-disciplinary team involving USGS and non-USGS scientists.
The overarching theme of Dr. Alpers' research is the environmental geochemistry of metal contamination from historical mining. A secondary theme is the use of mineral deposits and areas contaminated by mining as laboratories for process-oriented research. His career has evolved from an emphasis on acid mine drainage (late 1980s to 2000) to an emphasis on mercury (since 2000) with growing interests in wetlands, arsenic, and lead.
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Stoichiometry of mineral reactions from mass balance computations for acid mine waters, Iron Mountain, California
No abstract available.
Authors
Charles N. Alpers, D. Kirk Nordstrom
The production and variability of acid mine drainage at Iron Mountain, California: A superfund site undergoing rehabilitation
No abstract available.
Authors
D. Kirk Nordstrom, J.M. Burchard, Charles N. Alpers
Stable isotopes of carbon dioxide in soil gas over massive sulfide mineralization at Crandon, Wisconsin
Stable isotope ratios of oxygen and carbon were determined for CO2 in soil gas in the vicinity of the massive sulfide deposit at Crandon, Wisconsin with the objective of determining the source of anomalously high CO2 concentrations detected previously by McCarthy et al. (1986). Values of δ13C in soil gas CO2 from depths between 0.5 and 1.0 m were found to range from −12.68‰ to −20.03‰ (PDB). Organ
Authors
Charles N. Alpers, D. L. Dettman, K.C. Lohmann, D. Brabec
Hydrogeochemistry and stable isotopes of ground and surface waters from two adjacent closed basins, Atacama Desert, northern Chile
The geochemistry and stable isotopes of groundwaters, surface waters, and precipitation indicate different sources of some dissolved constituents, but a common source of recharge and other constituents in two adjacent closed basins in the Atacama Desert region of northern Chile (24°15′–24°45′S). Waters from artesian wells, trenches, and ephemeral streams in the Punta Negra Basin are characterized
Authors
Charles N. Alpers, Donald O. Whittemore
Paleohydrologic evolution and geochemical dynamics of cumulative supergene metal enrichment at La Escondida, Atacama Desert, northern Chile
Quantitative limonite mapping within the leached capping of the porphyry copper deposit at La Escondida, Chile, permits reconstruction of the paleohydrologic and chemical evolution of a well-developed supergene ore-forming system. The mineralogy, textures, and relative abundance of supergene limonite minerals (hematite, goethite, and jarosite) are used to reconstruct the former ratio of pyrite to
Authors
Charles N. Alpers, G.H. Brimhall
Solubility of jarosite solid solutions precipitated from acid mine waters, Iron Mountain, California
Because of the common occurrence of 15 to 25 mole percent hydronium substitution on the alkali site in jarosites, it is necessary to consider the hydronium content of jarosites in any attempt at rigorous evaluation of jarosite solubility or of the saturation state of natural waters with respect to jarosite. A Gibbs free energy of 3293.5±2.1 kJ mol-1 is recommended for a jarosite solid solution of
Authors
Charles N. Alpers, D. Kirk Nordstrom, J. W. Ball
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Stoichiometry of mineral reactions from mass balance computations for acid mine waters, Iron Mountain, California
No abstract available.AuthorsCharles N. Alpers, D. Kirk NordstromThe production and variability of acid mine drainage at Iron Mountain, California: A superfund site undergoing rehabilitation
No abstract available.AuthorsD. Kirk Nordstrom, J.M. Burchard, Charles N. AlpersStable isotopes of carbon dioxide in soil gas over massive sulfide mineralization at Crandon, Wisconsin
Stable isotope ratios of oxygen and carbon were determined for CO2 in soil gas in the vicinity of the massive sulfide deposit at Crandon, Wisconsin with the objective of determining the source of anomalously high CO2 concentrations detected previously by McCarthy et al. (1986). Values of δ13C in soil gas CO2 from depths between 0.5 and 1.0 m were found to range from −12.68‰ to −20.03‰ (PDB). OrganAuthorsCharles N. Alpers, D. L. Dettman, K.C. Lohmann, D. BrabecHydrogeochemistry and stable isotopes of ground and surface waters from two adjacent closed basins, Atacama Desert, northern Chile
The geochemistry and stable isotopes of groundwaters, surface waters, and precipitation indicate different sources of some dissolved constituents, but a common source of recharge and other constituents in two adjacent closed basins in the Atacama Desert region of northern Chile (24°15′–24°45′S). Waters from artesian wells, trenches, and ephemeral streams in the Punta Negra Basin are characterizedAuthorsCharles N. Alpers, Donald O. WhittemorePaleohydrologic evolution and geochemical dynamics of cumulative supergene metal enrichment at La Escondida, Atacama Desert, northern Chile
Quantitative limonite mapping within the leached capping of the porphyry copper deposit at La Escondida, Chile, permits reconstruction of the paleohydrologic and chemical evolution of a well-developed supergene ore-forming system. The mineralogy, textures, and relative abundance of supergene limonite minerals (hematite, goethite, and jarosite) are used to reconstruct the former ratio of pyrite toAuthorsCharles N. Alpers, G.H. BrimhallSolubility of jarosite solid solutions precipitated from acid mine waters, Iron Mountain, California
Because of the common occurrence of 15 to 25 mole percent hydronium substitution on the alkali site in jarosites, it is necessary to consider the hydronium content of jarosites in any attempt at rigorous evaluation of jarosite solubility or of the saturation state of natural waters with respect to jarosite. A Gibbs free energy of 3293.5±2.1 kJ mol-1 is recommended for a jarosite solid solution ofAuthorsCharles N. Alpers, D. Kirk Nordstrom, J. W. Ball - News