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.
Science and Products
Sediment grain-size and loss-on-ignition analyses from 2002 Englebright Lake coring and sampling campaigns
Report on the May-June 2002 Englebright Lake deep coring campaign
Geochemistry of sulfate minerals in high- and low-temperature environments: A tribute to Robert O. Rye
Summary of total mercury concentrations in fillets of selected sport fishes collected during 2000-2003 from Lake Natoma, Sacramento County, California
Mercury and methylmercury concentrations and loads in the Cache Creek watershed, California
Estimating accumulation rates and physical properties of sediment behind a dam: Englebright Lake, Yuba River, northern California
Extreme acid mine drainage from a pyritic massive sulfide deposit, the Iron Mountain end-member
Reconnaissance of acid drainage sources and preliminary evaluation of remedial alternatives at the Copper Bluff mine, Hoopa Valley Reservation, California
Sediment-water interactions affecting dissolved-mercury distributions in Camp Far West Reservoir, California
Geochemical and mineralogical controls on trace element release from the Penn Mine base-metal slag dump, California
Distribution of inorganic mercury in Sacramento River water and suspended colloidal sediment material
Ecogeochemistry of the subsurface food web at pH 0–2.5 in Iron Mountain, California, U.S.A.
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Sediment grain-size and loss-on-ignition analyses from 2002 Englebright Lake coring and sampling campaigns
This report presents sedimentologic data from three 2002 sampling campaigns conducted in Englebright Lake on the Yuba River in northern California. This work was done to assess the properties of the material deposited in the reservoir between completion of Englebright Dam in 1940 and 2002, as part of the Upper Yuba River Studies Program. Included are the results of grain-size-distribution and lossAuthorsNoah P. Snyder, James R. Allen, Carlin Dare, Margaret A. Hampton, Gary Schneider, Ryan J. Wooley, Charles N. Alpers, Mark C. Marvin-DiPasqualeReport on the May-June 2002 Englebright Lake deep coring campaign
This report describes the May-June 2002 Englebright Lake coring project. Englebright Lake is a 14- km-long reservoir on the Yuba River of northern California, impounded by Englebright Dam, which was completed in 1940. The sediments were cored to assess the current conditions in the reservoir as part of the California Bay-Delta Authority?s Upper Yuba River Studies Program. Sediment was collected usAuthorsNoah P. Snyder, Charles N. Alpers, Lorraine E. Flint, Jennifer A. Curtins, Margaret A. Hampton, Brian J. Haskell, Dennis L. NielsonGeochemistry of sulfate minerals in high- and low-temperature environments: A tribute to Robert O. Rye
This special issue is a tribute to Robert O. Rye, known as "Bob" to most, in light of his highly productive and ongoing career. Almost all of the papers in this issue are derived from topical sessions on sulfate minerals in hydrothermal and low-temperature environments. The sessions, held at the 2000 Geological Society of America meeting in Reno, NV, and sponsored jointly by the Mineralogical SociAuthorsRobert R. Seal, John L. Jambor, Charles N. AlpersSummary of total mercury concentrations in fillets of selected sport fishes collected during 2000-2003 from Lake Natoma, Sacramento County, California
This report summarizes results of total mercury measurements in skinless fillets of sport fishes collected during August 2000, September?October 2002, and July 2003 from Lake Natoma, a small (8,760 acre-feet) afterbay for Folsom Dam on the lower American River. The primary objective of the study was to determine if mercury concentrations in fillets approached or exceeded guidelines for human consuAuthorsMichael K. Saiki, Darrell G. Slotton, Thomas W. May, Shaun M. Ayers, Charles N. AlpersMercury and methylmercury concentrations and loads in the Cache Creek watershed, California
Concentrations and loads of total mercury and methylmercury were measured in streams draining abandoned mercury mines and in the proximity of geothermal discharge in the Cache Creek watershed of California during a 17-month period from January 2000 through May 2001. Rainfall and runoff were lower than long-term averages during the study period. The greatest loading of mercury and methylmercury froAuthorsJoseph L. Domagalski, Charles N. Alpers, D.G. Slotton, T.H. Suchanek, S.M. AyersEstimating accumulation rates and physical properties of sediment behind a dam: Englebright Lake, Yuba River, northern California
Studies of reservoir sedimentation are vital to understanding scientific and management issues related to watershed sediment budgets, depositional processes, reservoir operations, and dam decommissioning. Here we quantify the mass, organic content, and grain-size distribution of a reservoir deposit in northern California by two methods of extrapolating measurements of sediment physical propertiesAuthorsNoah P. Snyder, David M. Rubin, Charles N. Alpers, Jonathan R. Childs, Jennifer A. Curtis, Lorraine E. Flint, Scott A. WrightExtreme acid mine drainage from a pyritic massive sulfide deposit, the Iron Mountain end-member
No abstract available.AuthorsCharles N. Alpers, D. Kirk Nordstrom, J. SpitzleyReconnaissance of acid drainage sources and preliminary evaluation of remedial alternatives at the Copper Bluff mine, Hoopa Valley Reservation, California
Acidic drainage from the inactive Copper Bluff mine cascades down a steep embankment into the Trinity River, on the Hoopa Valley Reservation in northern California. The Copper Bluff mine produced about 100,000 tons of sulfide-bearing copper-zinc-gold-silver ore during 1957–1962. This report summarizes the results of a water-resources investigation begun by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1994 with tAuthorsCharles N. Alpers, Michael P. Hunerlach, Scott N. Hamlin, Robert A. ZierenbergSediment-water interactions affecting dissolved-mercury distributions in Camp Far West Reservoir, California
No abstract available.AuthorsJames S. Kuwabara, Charles N. Alpers, Mark Marvin-DiPasquale, Brent R. Topping, James L. Carter, A. Robin Stewart, Steven V. Fend, Francis Parcheso, Gerald E. Moon, David P. KrabbenhoftGeochemical and mineralogical controls on trace element release from the Penn Mine base-metal slag dump, California
Base-metal slag deposits at the Penn Mine in Calaveras County, California, are a source of environmental contamination through leaching of potentially toxic elements. Historical Cu smelting at Penn Mine (1865-1919) generated approximately 200,000 m3 of slag. The slag deposits, which are flooded annually by a reservoir used for drinking water and irrigation, also may be in contact with acidic grounAuthorsM.B. Parsons, D.K. Bird, M.T. Einaudi, Charles N. AlpersDistribution of inorganic mercury in Sacramento River water and suspended colloidal sediment material
The concentration and distribution of inorganic Hg was measured using cold-vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry in samples collected at selected sites on the Sacramento River from below Shasta Dam to Freeport, CA, at six separate times between 1996 and 1997. Dissolved (ultrafiltered, 0.005 μm equivalent pore size) Hg concentrations remained relatively constant throughout the system, ranging fromAuthorsD.A. Roth, Howard E. Taylor, Joseph L. Domagalski, Peter D. Dileanis, D.B. Peart, Ronald C. Antweiler, Charles N. AlpersEcogeochemistry of the subsurface food web at pH 0–2.5 in Iron Mountain, California, U.S.A.
Pyrite oxidation in the underground mining environment of Iron Mountain, California, has created the most acidic pH values ever reported in aquatic systems. Sulfate values as high as 120 000 mg l−1 and iron as high as 27 600 mg l−1 have been measured in the mine water, which also carries abundant other dissolved metals including Al, Zn, Cu, Cd, Mn, Sb and Pb. Extreme acidity and high metal concentAuthorsEleanora I. Robbins, Teresa M. Rodgers, Charles N. Alpers, D. Kirk Nordstrom - News