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AAM_1196556_Lawrence,S_2021.pdf (1.08 MB)

Society and sediment in the Mining Rivers of California and Australia

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Version 2 2022-06-17, 02:56
Version 1 2022-06-09, 06:59
journal contribution
posted on 2022-06-17, 02:43 authored by Peter DaviesPeter Davies, Susan LawrenceSusan Lawrence

Abstract: People and water intersect in the movement of sediment downstream in rivers. Social processes and geomorphological processes become entangled as each system moves in ways that trigger corresponding responses from the other. Long-term dialectical relationships emerge that span multiple human generations. The power of sediment and water to change physical environments is in constant tension with the power of human actions informed by social, cultural, legal, economic and engineering imperatives. The Pacific Rim gold rushes that began in the mid-nineteenth century provide an opportunity to examine how the interplay of people, water and sediment unfolds over historic time. The mass discharge of mining sediment in California and Victoria that began over 150 years ago was a catastrophic human alteration of river systems. Subsequently, mining sediment has had a long and complex entanglement with society and rivers in both regions and continues to be an active agent in reshaping riparian environments. Mining sediments also have a toxic legacy as associated contaminants, including mercury and arsenic, that are discharged into waterways and dispersed in windblown dust. The changes to river systems caused by gold mining committed societies and rivers to new trajectories of mutual engagement. Anthropogenically induced sedimentation that resulted from mining is an issue that will continue to impact watersheds for generations to come. 

Funding

Funding for this research was provided by the Australian Research Council (DP110100437, 160100799), the Australian Synchrotron (AS191/XAS/14284), and the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, La Trobe University. Travel funding was provided by the University of California Berkeley College of Environmental Design.

History

Publication Date

2021-04-01

Journal

Water History

Volume

13

Issue

1

Pagination

29p. (p. 45-73)

Publisher

Springer Nature

ISSN

1877-7236

Rights Statement

This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12685-020-00273-1. Use of the AM is subject to our AM terms of use, https://www.springernature.com/gp/open-research/policies/accepted-manuscript-terms, which permit users to view, print, copy, download and text and data-mine the content, for the purposes of academic research, subject always to the full conditions of use. Under no circumstances may the AM be shared or distributed under a Creative Commons, or other form of open access license, nor may it be reformatted or enhanced.