New Mexico Geological Society Annual Spring Meeting — Abstracts
Wildfires & Mining Legacy: Interfacial Reactions Affecting Metal Mobility
Eresay Alcantar-Velasquez1, Lawrence Rael, Kahleya Chapmen, Katelin Fisher4, Sakshi Patil5, Eliane El Hayek, Angelica Benavidez7, Abdul-Mehd Ali, Michael N. Spilde, Angélica Sáenz-Trevizo, Adrian Brearley, José M. Cerrato12 and Johanna M. Blake
1Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences Northrop Hall, 221 Yale Blvd NE University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, United States, evelascantare333@unm.edu
4Center for Water and the Environment, Gerald May Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA,
5Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
7Center for Micro Engineering Materials, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
12Gerald May Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
We identified water-labile interfacial reactions between laboratory-burned pinewood ash and mine waste solids that influence metal mobilization. The Upper Gallinas Creek Watershed in New Mexico is affected by wildfires and mining legacy. Pinewood and mine waste sediments were sampled from the area, and the pinewood was burned at 350°C to simulate medium burn intensity ignition. The desorption and dissolution of Fe, Mn, Li, Pb, and Cu was detected by ICP-MS as pH decreased over time. After reacting 18 MΩ ultra-pure water with a mixture of pinewood ash and mine waste sediments,Fe (143%) and Mn (89.2%) concentrations increased over time. Spectroscopy revealed the presence of iron oxyhydroxides in the mine waste sediment and carbonates in the ash, which influence metal mobility in ash-sediment interactions. These findings provide relevant insights about metal release from areas affected by wildfires and mining to inform watershed management.
Keywords:
wildfire, mining, metal mobility, iron, manganese
pp. 1
2026 New Mexico Geological Society Annual Spring Meeting
April 17, 2026, Macey Center, Socorro, NM
Online ISSN: 2834-5800