Prospection à la fluorescence X portable autour des mines de Locmaria-Berrien – Huelgoat et Poullaouen (XVIIIe s., Finistère)

International audience

Trace metal transfer in the environment: a key issue for the acceptability of mining projects

International audience

Ancient mining near the Bibracte oppidum and its impact on ecosystems: a multidisciplinary approach

International audience

Impact of trace metals from past mining on the aquatic ecosystem: a multi-proxy approach in the Morvan (France).

10 pages; International audience; This study seeks to determine to what extent trace metals resulting from past mining activities are transferred to the aquatic ecosystem, and whether such trace metals still exert deleterious effects on biota. Concentrations of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn were measured in streambed sediments, transplanted bryophytes and wild brown trout. This study was conducted at two scales: (i) the entire Morvan Regional Nature Park and (ii) three small watersheds selected for their degree of contamination, based on the presence or absence of past mining sites. The overall quality of streambed sediments was assessed using Sediment Quality Indices (SQIs). According to these standar…

Minéralogie de la mine du Prabis (Villapourçon, Nièvre, France)

Impact d'anciennes activités minières sur la zone critique : exemple des mines de plomb et d'argent de Peisey-Nancroix (19ème-20ème siècle)

International audience; A better understanding of long-term trace metals dispersal and their bioavailability in the critical zone is required to anticipate future impacts of present-day mining activity. The Pb-Ag district of Peisey-Nancroix (northern French Alps) is an excellent target to study the long-term environmental impacts (> 150 years) of former mines and trace metal dispersal in the critical zone, considering that every steps of the mining cycle, from ore extraction to ore processing, were located on a few hectares site that has been unmodified since mine closure in 1866 (no reclamation). A cross-disciplinary study is conducted using several proxies (ore, waste dumps, soil, water, …

Conditions environnementales de l'exploitation des espaces ruraux en Gaule du Nord

International audience

Tracking archaeological and historical mines using mineral prospectivity mapping.

13 pages; International audience; The present study proposes a technological transfer from modern mining prospection to the field of archaeology, providing a methodology to facilitate the discovery of ancient mining sites. This method takes advantage of the thousands of geochemical analyses of streambed sediments, performed by national geological surveys to inventory mineral substances. In order to delineate geochemical anomalies, the datasets are treated following two different approaches: Exploratory Data Analysis and a fractal-based method often recognised as more powerful. Mineral prospectivity maps are then obtained by combining the results with a geographical information system. The s…

Le passé minier, la gestion de l’après-mine: exemple des Alpes du Nord françaises.

Wild brown trout affected by historical mining in the Cévennes national park, France.

8 pages; International audience; In the protected area of the Cévennes National Park (Southern France), 114 wild brown trout (Salmo trutta fario) were captured at six locations affected to different extents by historical mining and metallurgy dating from the Iron Age to Modern Times. Cadmium and lead in trout livers and muscles reflect high sediment contamination, although an age-related effect was also detected for hepatic metal concentrations. Lead isotope signatures confirm exposure to drainage from mining and metallurgical waste. Developmental instability, assessed by fluctuating asymmetry, is significantly correlated with cadmium and lead concentrations in trout tissues, suggesting th…

Assessing the impact of ancient mining activity at regional scale: the example of the Northern French Alps.

Poster; International audience

Productions en série vers 1500 avant notre ère. Des règles de fabrication au Bronze moyen entre la Manche et les Alpes à la lumière d’une étude morphométrique.

Some European Bronze Age objects were produced by what has been described as serial metalworking. One particularexample is the Middle Bronze Age palstave, massively produced and used in Western Europe during the mid-second millennium BC.These artefacts were often voluntarily buried together in hoards, meaning they were removed from the production network, thus avoidingany recycling. They are found intact, either as rough castings or ready for use. These homogeneous objects are grouped in sets of severalitems, or in tens, or even in hundreds. Such discoveries have immediately led to numerous questions as to the possible interpretation ofthis behaviour. It is clear that prehistoric craftsmen …

When past human activities impact present-day environment: tracking geochemical anomalies from ancient mines in the Northern French Alps

International audience

Le projet "identification et impact des sites miniers abandonnés sur les écosystèmes aquatiques et terrestres actuels"

Impact of historical mining assessed in soils by kinetic extraction and lead isotopic ratios.

12 pages; International audience; The aim of this study is to estimate the long-term behaviour of trace metals, in two soils differently impacted by past mining. Topsoils from two 1 km(2) zones in the forested Morvan massif (France) were sampled to assess the spatial distribution of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn. The first zone had been contaminated by historical mining. As expected, it exhibits higher trace-metal levels and greater spatial heterogeneity than the second non-contaminated zone, supposed to represent the local background. One soil profile from each zone was investigated in detail to estimate metal behaviour, and hence, bioavailability. Kinetic extractions were performed using EDTA on thre…

Nouvelles données sur les minerais de plomb des Alpes françaises du nord.

National audience

Le passé minier et la gestion de l’après-mine : exemple des Alpes françaises.

Paysage industriel et contamination métallique : l'héritage des anciennes activités minières et métallurgiques

International audience; Si à l'heure actuelle, des dispositifs sont mis en place afin de limiter la dispersion de polluants dans l'environnement de nos régions, cela n'était pas le cas dans le passé, et a fortiori pour les activités les plus anciennes. Malheureusement, une contamination ne s'arrête pas à la cessation d'une activité à caractère industriel. Le cas des sites métallurgiques anciens en est une parfaite illustration. Ainsi, le site abandonné est incorporé dans un système complexe qu'il convient d'appréhender dans sa globalité.Depuis quelques décennies, de nombreuses études ont été menées pour tenter de comprendre la trajectoire des éléments traces métalliques dans les écosystèmes…

Morphometry of Middle Bronze Age palstaves. Part II - spatial distribution of shapes in two typological groups, implications for production and exportation.

10 pages; International audience; For archaeologists, metallic artifacts are key materials to assess Middle Bronze Age production areas and cultural exchanges. Here, a set of 629 bronze palstaves excavated in northern France, belonging to Breton and Norman typological groups, was treated by (open) outline-based morphometrics with orthogonal polynomial regression. Using robust statistics developed for outlier detection, these Norman and Breton palstave outlines can be divided into two groups: those for which the shape fluctuates close to the standard shape, called "congruent" axes, and those which are far enough from this standard to be considered as "non-congruent", although they possess mo…

Approche interdisciplinaire d’un atelier minéralurgique du XVe s à Sainte-Marie aux-Mines (Haut-Rhin, France)

International audience

Le programme « Identification et impact des sites miniers abandonnés sur les écosystèmes aquatiques et terrestres actuels ». Bilan au sein du Parc naturel régional du Morvan

National audience

Contaminations actuelles associées aux exploitations minières anciennes.

National audience

Caractérisation des anomalies géochimiques comme traceurs des anciennes exploitations minières

International audience

Des stériles contaminants : l'impact des anciens sites miniers sur notre environnement actuel. L'exemple des Alpes du nord françaises.

National audience