Katherine Neate
Quantifying the importance of different sources of diffuse pollution in mining-impacted rivers.
Email: k.neate2@ncl.ac.uk
Project supervisors
- Newcastle University
- British Geological Survey
- Dr Barbra Palumbo-Roe
Project description
Climate change has raised concerns about the impact of extreme weather events. These events can exacerbate pollution from abandoned mining sites. This is particularly true for diffuse pollutant sources. Such sources increase instream metal flux during higher flow conditions. Diffuse pollutant sources originate from sediment, spoils and hyporheic exchanges. They are problematic to quantify.
I will conduct reach scale monitoring of storm events in the Coledale Beck catchment in The Lake District, Cumbria. I will quantify changes in metal concentration and fluxes associated with higher flow conditions.
Changes in flow between monitoring locations can identify hyporheic exchanges. These can contribute to metal release. I will further explore the role of hyporheic exchanges byl characterising hydrochemical profiles alongside tracer testing. This will determine ground to surface water connectivity.
Publications
- Ennis CJ, Clarke J, Neate K, Cerejeira J, Tull L. Hydrothermal Extraction of Microalgae Fatty Acid Influences Hydrochar Phytotoxicity. Frontiers in Environmental Science 2017, 5:47.
Qualifications
- BSc (Hons) Biological Sciences
- MSc Environmental Engineering