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
Mercury contamination from historic gold mining in California
Metal-sulfate salts from sulfide mineral oxidation
Stable isotope systematics of sulfate minerals
Water-quality assessment of the Sacramento River Basin, California, water-quality, sediment and tissue chemistry, and biological data, 1995-1998
Metals transport in the Sacramento River, California, 1996-1997; volume 1: Methods and data
Metals transport in the Sacramento River, California, 1996-1997; Volume 2: Interpretation of metal loads
Mercury bioaccumulation in fish in a region affected by historic gold mining: The South Yuba River, Deer Creek, and Bear River watersheds, California, 1999
Water quality in the Sacramento River basin, California, 1994-98
Metal exposure to a benthic invertebrate, Hydropsyche californica, in the Sacramento River down stream of Keswick Reservoir, California
Metal exposure in a benthic macroinvertebrate, Hydropsyche californica, related to mine drainage in the Sacramento River
Negative pH and extremely acidic mine waters from Iron Mountain, California
Alunite-jarosite crystallography, thermodynamics, and geochronology
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Mercury contamination from historic gold mining in California
Mercury contamination from historic gold mines represents a potential risk to human health and the environment. This fact sheet provides background information on the use of mercury in historic gold mining and processing operations in California, and describes a new USGS project that addresses the potential risks associated with mercury from these sources, with emphasis on historic hydraulic mininAuthorsCharles N. Alpers, Michael P. HunerlachMetal-sulfate salts from sulfide mineral oxidation
The observation of “efflorescences,” or the flowering of salts, associated with periods of dryness in soils, in closed-basin lakes, in rock outcrops, and in mines and mine wastes has been noted since early antiquity. The formation of metal-sulfate salts, in connection with the mining of metals, was a phenomenon well known to the early Greek and Roman civilizations. Alum, most commonly potash alumAuthorsJ.L. Jambor, D. Kirk Nordstrom, Charles N. AlpersStable isotope systematics of sulfate minerals
Stable isotope studies of sulfate minerals are especially useful for unraveling the geochemical history of geological systems. All sulfate minerals can yield sulfur and oxygen isotope data. Hydrous sulfate minerals, such as gypsum, also yield oxygen and hydrogen isotope data for the water of hydration, and more complex sulfate minerals, such as alunite and jarosite also yield oxygen and hydrogen iAuthorsRobert R. Seal, Charles N. Alpers, Robert O. RyeWater-quality assessment of the Sacramento River Basin, California, water-quality, sediment and tissue chemistry, and biological data, 1995-1998
No abstract available.AuthorsJoseph L. Domagalski, Peter D. Dileanis, Donna L. Knifong, Cathy M. Munday, Jason T. May, Barbara J. Dawson, Jennifer L. Shelton, Charles N. AlpersMetals transport in the Sacramento River, California, 1996-1997; volume 1: Methods and data
Metals transport in the Sacramento River, northern California, was evaluated on the basis of samples of water, suspended colloids, streambed sediment, and caddisfly larvae that were collected on one to six occasions at 19 sites in the Sacramento River Basin from July 1996 to June 1997. Four of the sampling periods (July, September, and November 1996; and May-June 1997) took place during relativelyAuthorsCharles N. Alpers, Howard E. Taylor, Joseph L. DomagalskiMetals transport in the Sacramento River, California, 1996-1997; Volume 2: Interpretation of metal loads
Metals transport in the Sacramento River, northern California, from July 1996 to June 1997 was evaluated in terms of metal loads from samples of water and suspended colloids that were collected on up to six occasions at 13 sites in the Sacramento River Basin. Four of the sampling periods (July, September, and November 1996; and May-June 1997) took place during relatively low-flow conditions and twMercury bioaccumulation in fish in a region affected by historic gold mining: The South Yuba River, Deer Creek, and Bear River watersheds, California, 1999
Mercury that was used historically for gold recovery in mining areas of the Sierra Nevada continues to enter local and downstream water bodies, including the Sacramento Delta and the San Francisco Bay of northern California. Methylmercury is of particular concern because it is the most prevalent form of mercury in fish and is a potent neurotoxin that bioaccumulates at successive trophic levels witAuthorsJason T. May, Roger L. Hothem, Charles N. Alpers, Matthew A. LawWater quality in the Sacramento River basin, California, 1994-98
This report summarizes major findings about water quality in the Sacramento River basin that emerged from an assessment conducted between 1994 and 1998 by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program. Water quality is discussed in terms of local and regional issues and compared to conditions found in all 36 NAWQA study areas assessed to date. Findings are alsAuthorsJoseph L. Domagalski, Donna L. Knifong, Peter D. Dileanis, Larry R. Brown, Jason T. May, Valerie Connor, Charles N. AlpersMetal exposure to a benthic invertebrate, Hydropsyche californica, in the Sacramento River down stream of Keswick Reservoir, California
No abstract available.AuthorsDaniel J. Cain, James L. Carter, Steven V. Fend, Samuel N. Luoma, Charles N. Alpers, Howard E. TaylorMetal exposure in a benthic macroinvertebrate, Hydropsyche californica, related to mine drainage in the Sacramento River
A biomonitoring technique was employed to complement studies of metal transport in the upper Sacramento River affected by acid mine drainage. Metals (Al, Cd, Cu, Fe, Hg, Pb, and Zn) were determined in a resident invertebrate, Hydropsyche californica (Insecta: Trichoptera), and streambed sediments (<62 µm) to assess metal contamination within a 111-km section of the river downstream of the mining aAuthorsDaniel J. Cain, James L. Carter, Steven V. Fend, Samuel N. Luoma, Charles N. Alpers, Howard E. TaylorNegative pH and extremely acidic mine waters from Iron Mountain, California
Extremely acidic mine waters with pH values as low as -3.6, total dissolved metal concentrations as high as 200 g/L, and sulfate concentrations as high as 760 g/L, have been encountered underground in the Richmond Mine at Iron Mountain, CA. These are the most acidic waters known. The pH measurements were obtained by using the Pitzer method to define pH for calibration of glass membrane electrodes.AuthorsD. Kirk Nordstrom, Charles N. Alpers, C.J. Ptacek, D.W. BlowesAlunite-jarosite crystallography, thermodynamics, and geochronology
The alunite supergroup consists of more than 40 mineral species that have in common the general formula DG3(TO4)2(OH,H2O)6. The D sites are occupied by monovalent (e.g. K, Na, NH4, Ag, Tl, H3O), divalent (e.g. Ca, Sr, Ba, Pb), trivalent (e.g. Bi, REE) or more rarely quadrivalent (Th) ions; G is Al or Fe3+ or rarely Ga or V; T is S6+, As5+, or P5+, and may include subordinate amounts of Cr6+ or Si4AuthorsR.E. Stoffregen, Charles N. Alpers, J.L. Jambor - News