75 Mineralogy, Geochemistry, Petrology, and Volcanology Student Session (Posters)

GSA’s MGPV student representatives invite the division’s student population to present their research (oral or poster). We encourage abstracts from any subdiscipline within our respective fields with hopes of stimulating a multi-disciplinary, early career researcher (ECR) community within MGPV.

Sunday, 19 October 2025
8:00 AM - 5:30 PM
HBGCC, Hall 1

Post-Fire Metal Mobility: Redox Interactions of Ash and Mine Waste Solids

Paper number: 75-2
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 8:00 AM – 8:00 AM

Authors

Abstract

Semi-arid regions, including the Southwestern United States, have been disproportionately affected as wildfires increase globally in both occurrence and severity. Moreover, some of these areas shoulder water quality challenges derived from legacy mining. Past studies have reported wildfire-related water quality impairments such as elevated nutrient and metal concentrations. However, few studies have characterized the chemical reactions occurring in legacy mining sites affected by wildfire activity. The objective of this study is to investigate the influence of redox reactions between pine wood ash and mine waste solids on the mobility of metals and nitrogen. The Gallinas Creek watershed, located in northeastern New Mexico, will serve as the study site. The site is ideal for this study because it has historical mining influences and was partially burned during the 2022 Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Wildfire. A variety of analytical techniques will be employed to characterize water, soil, and pine wood samples obtained from a prospective mining site within the watershed. Following characterization, batch reactor experiments will be performed with deionized water and laboratory-prepared pine wood ash homogenized with mine waste solids to model post-fire chemical interactions. The experiments will be conducted under both oxidizing and reducing conditions. Previous sediment data from the study site indicated high concentrations of copper, cerium, and uranium; therefore, in the batch reactors, the mobility of these metals will be analyzed. The same techniques used prior to the start of the reactors will be applied to characterize the solutions and solids following the experiments. This research aims to fill key knowledge gaps in the literature regarding interfacial reactions in regions affected by wildfires. Furthermore, the findings will support and potentially improve current water quality management strategies.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 57, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-413083

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