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oai:figshare.com:article/33973474 2026-09-23T13:34:34Z category_32 portal_316 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

Supplementary file 1_Geochemical connectivity among mine tailings, soils, sediments, and waters in a historical mining basin integrating multivariate statistics and exploratory random forest modeling.docx Luisa Fernanda Rueda-Garzon (25097617) Alejandro Carrillo-Chávez (25097620) Raúl Miranda-Avilés (25097623) Daniela Calvo-Ramos (25097626) Jorge Luis Morales-Martínez (25097629) Carolina Muñoz-Torres (25097632) Rocío García-Martínez (25097635) Geochemistry ecological risk historical mining human health risk metal(loid)s random forest source apportionment <p>The distribution of metal (loid)s in the Guanajuato River Basin reflects a complex interplay of geological inheritance, sedimentary processes, and ∼500 years of historical mining. We analyzed 71 samples spanning bedrock, mine tailings, soils, stream/overbank sediments, surface water, and groundwater to characterize geochemical variability, evaluate mining-related geochemical signatures, and assess environmental and health risks. Multivariate statistics were applied to evaluate geochemical relationships among environmental matrices, complemented by Random Forest model to assess their relative affinity to geogenic and mining related reference classes. Bicarbonate-type waters dominate the basin; groundwater is enriched in Na, Si, F, As, and Zn, whereas surface waters exhibit higher overall mineralization and Ca–Mg–SO₄ signatures. Two principal geochemical associations were identified in the solid matrix samples: Al–Fe–Cr–V–Ni (geogenic) and S–As–Cd–Pb–Cu–Zn (mineralized/mining-related). The exploratory Random Forest model (OOB error of 0.12) identified S, Cd, and As the leading predictors of affinity to the predefined reference classes. However, these findings should be considered exploratory because the model was trained on a limited dataset (12 lithological and 13 mine tailings samples). Ecological risk is highest in mine tailings, driven primarily by elevated As, Cd, and Cu. Water quality and human health risks are restricted to localized groundwater and downstream surface water sites, where quantified As concentrations are the principal contributor to potentially unacceptable carcinogenic risk. Overall, historical mining has amplified and redistributed preexisting hydrothermal geochemical signatures rather than introducing entirely new elemental assemblages. The integrated evaluation of multiple environmental matrices provides a framework for interpreting mining-related impacts in naturally mineralized basins.</p> 2026-09-23T13:34:34Z Dataset Dataset 10.3389/fgeoc.2026.1919883.s002 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Supplementary_file_1_Geochemical_connectivity_among_mine_tailings_soils_sediments_and_waters_in_a_historical_mining_basin_integrating_multivariate_statistics_and_exploratory_random_forest_modeling_docx/33973474 CC BY 4.0