| This dissertation presents a modeling environment to support the design of wetlands for treating acid mine drainage (AMD) by evaluation of spatial and temporal variation. The research objective was to develop a model that could predict AMD anoxic treatment levels for pH, Fe, Zu and Cu, based on knowledge of AMD input flow, pH, metal concentration, and wetland surface area. The model was developed on a reference site (the Big Five Tunnel wetland in Idaho Springs, Colorado) and validated on 2 sites in southwestern Virginia (the Huey Pit wetland in Galax, and the Toncrae Mine wetland in Floyd County). A set of modeling tools was developed to support simulation of important wetland processes and functions that contributed to metal removal and plant growth and decay.;The model is a good predictor of treatment pH and Fe removal for area flow indices between 200 and 800 ft;The streamlining of model functions resulted in excluding aerobic treatment processes and microbial components for sulfate reduction and metal removal. The inclusion of either of these components to a model of anaerobic treatment would have significantly increased model complexity and probably diminished predictive capability. However, it is also possible that other factors not included (e.g., substrate type) in the model could have allowed better prediction of observed results. |
