MODELING THE EFFECTS OF VEGETATION ON HEAVY METALS CONTAINMENT

摘要

Soil and water contamination of lead, cadmium, and zinc are of concern in Southeast Kansas, where mining activities occurred until the middle of this century. Sediment erosion from the remnant piles of chat, an aftermath of the mining activity, is responsible for the increasing metal-contaminant concentrations in nearby farmland. Vegetation is being examined as a means of controlling the further spread of the metals. One current program used in watershed modeling, the Agricultural Non-Point Source Pollution Model, or AGNPS, is examined to determine the role that vegetation plays in controlling metal contamination from an 800-acre watershed, containing such chat piles, near Galena, Kansas.