美国达特茅斯学院 Dethier, Evan N. 的研究小组提出，来自全球冲积层的采矿增长增加了热带河流的沉积负载量。这一研究成果发表在2023年8月23日出版的国际学术期刊《自然》上。

研究人员汇编和分析了一个37年的卫星数据库，记录了世界范围内普遍的、不断增长的河流矿产开采情况。研究确定了49个国家的396个矿区，集中在几乎普遍被采矿沉积物改变的热带水道。在173条受采矿影响的河流中，80%的河流悬浮泥沙浓度(SSCs)是采矿前的两倍以上。在采矿影响大河(> 50米宽)的 30 个国家中，23±19%的大河长度被采矿产生的沉积物改变，这是一种全球性影响，代表35000公里的河流，占所有大型热带河流河段的6% ( ±1% s.e.)。研究强调了热带河流系统中采矿相关退化的普遍性和强度。

研究人员表示，全球热带地区河流中越来越多的黄金和矿物开采活动已经使生态系统退化，并威胁到人类健康。这种河流矿物开采包括在河道中进行大规模挖掘和沉积物处理，改变河道形态并向下游释放多余的沉积物。悬浮泥沙量的增加会降低水的透明度，并导致淤积，其程度可能会诱发鱼类疾病和死亡，水质恶化以及人类基础设施受损。虽然人们在地方一级对河流采矿进行了调查，但没有对其物理足迹和对其水文系统的影响进行全球综合分析，因此人们对其全部环境后果一无所知。

附：英文原文

Title: A global rise in alluvial mining increases sediment load in tropical rivers

Author: Dethier, Evan N., Silman, Miles, Leiva, Jimena Daz, Alqahtani, Sarra, Fernandez, Luis E., Pauca, Pal, amalan, Seda, Tomhave, Peter, Magilligan, Francis J., Renshaw, Carl E., Lutz, David A.

Issue&Volume: 2023-08-23

Abstract: Increasing gold and mineral mining activity in rivers across the global tropics has degraded ecosystems and threatened human health. Such river mineral mining involves intensive excavation and sediment processing in river corridors, altering river form and releasing excess sediment downstream. Increased suspended sediment loads can reduce water clarity and cause siltation to levels that may result in disease and mortality in fish, poor water quality and damage to human infrastructure. Although river mining has been investigated at local scales, no global synthesis of its physical footprint and impacts on hydrologic systems exists, leaving its full environmental consequences unknown. We assemble and analyse a 37-year satellite database showing pervasive, increasing river mineral mining worldwide. We identify 396 mining districts in 49 countries, concentrated in tropical waterways that are almost universally altered by mining-derived sediment. Of 173 mining-affected rivers, 80% have suspended sediment concentrations (SSCs) more than double pre-mining levels. In 30 countries in which mining affects large (>50m wide) rivers, 23±19% of large river length is altered by mining-derived sediment, a globe-spanning effect representing 35,000 river kilometres, 6% (±1%s.e.) of all large tropical river reaches. Our findings highlight the ubiquity and intensity of mining-associated degradation in tropical river systems.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06309-9

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06309-9