AbstractsEarth & Environmental Science

Coal mining is disruptive to ecosystems and causes both chemical and physical changes in the local environment that alter water chemistry, habitat quality, and aquatic biota. The East Branch of Raccoon Creek, Ohio is highly impacted by preregulation coal mining and contains 10 steel slag leach beds that passively treat low pH, Fe and Al-rich waters. Water chemistry, sediment chemistry, aquatic macroinvertebrate richness and diversity, habitat quality, and stream gradient were examined along the mainstem and a headwater tributary. Gradient showed no significant relationship with sediment quality. Higher flows increased instream concentrations of Fe and increased the portion of suspended Fe in the water column. Macroinvertebrate richness and diversity varies from good to very poor and is negatively correlated with sediment As, Cu, Fe and Mn, and multiple water quality parameters such as specific conductivity (µS/cm), pH, and TDS (mg/L). Advisors/Committee Members: Kruse, Natalie (Advisor).