Abstract
Hard and brown coal mining has a long tradition in central and eastern Europe and covers large areas of mining in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic (Geller et al., this Vol.). In Germany there are three main districts of lignite surface mining: the Rheinish district near Cologne, the mid-German district around Leipzig and the Lusatian district around Cottbus in the most eastern part of Germany. Surface mining of lignite (brown coal) results in several environmental problems, for example important disturbances of the natural water balance, mass transfer of billions of tons of soil and devastation of nature. Among these, water acidification is an already well-known effect. Sulphide minerals, such as pyrite and marcasite, are commonly associated with coal and most metal ores. Weathering and oxidation of these minerals take place in the host rocks and substrates of the lignite horizons when they are exposed to air. The release of the oxidation products, mainly acidity, iron and sulphate, is known as acid mine drainage (AMD) and has been the subject of intense research for decades (e. g. Singer and Stumm 1970; Lowsen 1982; Nordstrom 1982; van Berk 1987; Morrison et al. 1990; Blowes et al. 1991, Hedin et al. 1994; Wisotzky 1994).
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Friese, K., Hupfer, M., Schultze, M. (1998). Chemical Characteristics of Water and Sediment in Acid Mining Lakes of the Lusatian Lignite District. In: Geller, W., Klapper, H., Salomons, W. (eds) Acidic Mining Lakes. Environmental Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-71954-7_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-71954-7_3
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