Abstract. Disruption of surface water flow through a wetland along Pendleton Creek, Tucker County, WV due to the presence of an abandoned underground mine, led to a decision by the WV Department of Natural Resources to permit removal of a portion of the wetland to "daylight" the coal yet remaining, followed by reestablishment of a wetland. The wetland was examined as it was removed during mining and the data collected has resulted in a better understanding of the creation of this wetland over the past 30,000 years. It has also allowed us to observe both the "plumbing" of a host site for fixing iron as coatings on the fine-grained sediments that line the valley floor. It is anticipated that a better understanding of the natural system as it has operated during the past 30,000 years will aid in the effort to construct a wetland on this mined land.
Additional key words: "Plumbing" of a natural wetland, fixing iron.
1 Paper presented at the 1990 Mining and Reclamation Conference and Exhibition, Charleston, West Virginia, April 23-26, 1990.
2 Robert E. Behling is a Professor of Geology, Department of Geology and Geography, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506.