Charles N Alpers
Since 1991, as a Research Chemist with USGS, Dr. Alpers has led numerous water-quality investigations involving the environmental effects of historical mining.
This work has included research on acid mine drainage at the Iron Mountain Superfund site, including documentation of negative-pH water and associated sulfate minerals. Since 1999, he has been lead scientist for several multi-disciplinary studies regarding mercury contamination, transport, and bioaccumulation associated with historical gold mining in the Sierra Nevada and Coast Ranges of California. He is also investigating arsenic bioavailability and bioaccessibility in gold-mine waste at the Empire Mine in Grass Valley, California as part of a multi-disciplinary team involving USGS and non-USGS scientists.
The overarching theme of Dr. Alpers' research is the environmental geochemistry of metal contamination from historical mining. A secondary theme is the use of mineral deposits and areas contaminated by mining as laboratories for process-oriented research. His career has evolved from an emphasis on acid mine drainage (late 1980s to 2000) to an emphasis on mercury (since 2000) with growing interests in wetlands, arsenic, and lead.
Science and Products
234U/238U and δ87Sr in peat as tracers of paleosalinity in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta of California, USA
Characterization and remediation of iron(III) oxide-rich scale in a pipeline carrying acid mine drainage at Iron Mountain Mine, California, USA
Distribution and geochemistry of selected trace elements in the Sacramento River near Keswick Reservoir
Selected trace elements in the Sacramento River, California: Occurrence and distribution
Distribution and geochemistry of selected trace elements in the Sacramento River near Keswick Reservoir
The effects of sediment and mercury mobilization in the South Yuba River and Humbug Creek confluence area, Nevada County, California: Concentrations, speciation, and environmental fate – Part 1: Field characterization
The effects of sediment and mercury mobilization in the South Yuba River and Humbug Creek confluence area, Nevada County, California: Concentrations, speciation and environmental fate - Part 2: Laboratory Experiments
Overview of the ARkStorm scenario
The U.S. Geological Survey, Multi Hazards Demonstration Project (MHDP) uses hazards science to improve resiliency of communities to natural disasters including earthquakes, tsunamis, wildfires, landslides, floods and coastal erosion. The project engages emergency planners, businesses, universities, government agencies, and others in preparing for major natural disasters. The project also helps to
Vibrational, X-ray absorption, and Mössbauer spectra of sulfate minerals from the weathered massive sulfide deposit at Iron Mountain, California
Methylmercury cycling, bioaccumulation, and export from agricultural and non-agricultural wetlands in the Yolo Bypass
Mercury concentrations in fish from a Sierra Nevada foothill reservoir located downstream from historic gold-mining operations
Microbial production of isotopically light iron(II) in a modern chemically precipitated sediment and implications for isotopic variations in ancient rocks
Science and Products
234U/238U and δ87Sr in peat as tracers of paleosalinity in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta of California, USA
Characterization and remediation of iron(III) oxide-rich scale in a pipeline carrying acid mine drainage at Iron Mountain Mine, California, USA
Distribution and geochemistry of selected trace elements in the Sacramento River near Keswick Reservoir
Selected trace elements in the Sacramento River, California: Occurrence and distribution
Distribution and geochemistry of selected trace elements in the Sacramento River near Keswick Reservoir
The effects of sediment and mercury mobilization in the South Yuba River and Humbug Creek confluence area, Nevada County, California: Concentrations, speciation, and environmental fate – Part 1: Field characterization
The effects of sediment and mercury mobilization in the South Yuba River and Humbug Creek confluence area, Nevada County, California: Concentrations, speciation and environmental fate - Part 2: Laboratory Experiments
Overview of the ARkStorm scenario
The U.S. Geological Survey, Multi Hazards Demonstration Project (MHDP) uses hazards science to improve resiliency of communities to natural disasters including earthquakes, tsunamis, wildfires, landslides, floods and coastal erosion. The project engages emergency planners, businesses, universities, government agencies, and others in preparing for major natural disasters. The project also helps to