This award will support a seminar, "Acid Groundwaters in Australia: Geochemical Observation and Implications " organized jointly by Prof. William B. Lyons of the University of New Hampshire, Durham, and Dr. A.L. Herzen of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization Water Resources Division, Australia. Participants will meet in Honolulu, Hawaii, in March 1989 to discuss the occurrence of acid groundwaters in Australia and their geochemical and hydrological nature. Detailed data obtained from a joint U.S.-Australian field program that took place at Lake Tyrrell, Victoria, in 1987 will be presented. This lake is composed of naturally acidic water similar to that associated with the drainage of mines. By comparing the natural Australian groundwaters and acid mine drainage waters, the understanding of the mechanisms controlling the geochemi- stry of both water types may be improved. In addition, whether the natural metal transport and enrichment that occur in the Lake Tyrrell waters are sufficient to provide a natural metal deposit will also be discussed.
