STRATIGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF SELENIUM IN UPPER KANAWHA-LOWER ALLEGHENY FORMATION STRATA AT A LOCATION IN SOUTHWESTERN WEST VIRGINIA

摘要

Recent findings of dissolved selenium in stream waters below mine-created valley fills in southwestern West Virginia have raised issues as to the potential impact such selenium may have upon aquatic life; whether the potential release of selenium is an inescapable result of mountain-top mining; and whether selenium enrichment is zoned such that the materials could be identified and specifically- handled, or whether it is evenly or randomly distributed throughout the stratigraphic section. Some preliminary results of limited core analyses have reportedly suggested that selenium may be fairly evenly distributed throughout the rock strata of that interval, a circumstance which would, if true, have serious implications in attempts to minimize selenium mobilization through selective handling techniques during surface mining.