Environmental Implications of Saline Efflorescence Associated with Metallic Mining Waste in a Mediterranean Region
, Ana Vanessa Caparrós-RÃos 1, Virginia Robles-Arenas 2, Cristóbal GarcÃa-GarcÃa 2, Gregorio GarcÃa 3, RocÃo Millán 4, Araceli Pérez-Sanz 5 and Roberto RodrÃguez-Pacheco 6,*Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
This paper presents the physicochemical characteristics of salt efflorescences associated with metallic mining waste in the Cartagena-La Unión mining area, SE Spain. The work has merit for publication but after major revision. My main general comments are as follows:
1. Authors should be improving the resolution of the Figure 1 and 3 in the manuscript.
In figure 2: g is mentioned twice
2. Please mention in table 3 the temperature of total samples
3. The very poor introduction and discussion in manuscript, the author should be discussing the differences between this research results and earlier research. Author's can consult article's about efflorescent salts and acid mine drainage part in
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gexplo.2013.07.001
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2019.05.017
4. Please add the PCA graph and table of the Total variance explained and extracted components of PCA. Please mention the Principal Components and KMO value. I am spectical about data clarity- such as, is the data normally distributed? Author's can consult article's Statistical method part in
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-21890-8
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12665-016-5391-1
Author Response
- Authors should be improving the resolution of the Figure 1 and 3 in the manuscript.In figure 2: g is mentioned twice
Done. Figures 1 and 3 have been improved and figure 2 has been corrected.
- Please mention in table 3 the temperature of total samples
Done. It has been mentioned in the text.
- The very poor introduction and discussion in manuscript, the author should be discussing the differences between this research results and earlier research. Author's can consult article's about efflorescent salts and acid mine drainage part in
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gexplo.2013.07.001
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2019.05.017
Done. The introduction and discussion have been greatly improved.
- Please add the PCA graph and table of the Total variance explained and extracted components of PCA. Please mention the Principal Components and KMO value. I am spectical about data clarity- such as, is the data normally distributed? Author's can consult article's Statistical method part in
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-21890-8
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12665-016-5391-1
Done. The PCA graph and table with the Total variance explained and components extracted by principal component analysis have been added. In the text the requirements for the application of the PCA have been mentioned, such as Bartlett's test of sphericity and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) test, but also the communality values. Furthermore, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to validate the hypothesis of normality of the data sets.
The articles suggested by the reviewer have been consulted and incorporated into the results and discussion, and material and methods sections.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 2 Report
The article “Characterisation and environmental implications for soil and water of salt efflorescences associated with metallic mining waste in a Mediterranean region” is an interesting document about the characterisation of several salt efflorescences and their leachates, from Cartagena-La Unión mining area in Spain. The appropriate analytical techniques have been used for the geochemical characterization of the materials. And they have concluded that the high concentrations of some elements such as S and Fe can act as sources of environmental pollutants for soil and water. Therefore, it is a considerable risk for soils and drinking water quality. However, I would like to recommend some changes in the article.
- Include the novelty of the article in the abstract and in the introduction section. In addition, the initial hypothesis of the article can be included in the introduction section.
- Improve the quality of the figures. In Figure 1, increase the font size of the legend. Divide figure 1 into 3 figures to see the images with more detail. Improve the sharpness of figure 3.
- Line 75: include Spain. “The survey area is in the former mining district of Cartagena-La Unión, located in the Region of Murcia, in south-eastern of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain)”
- In line 87. Explain the actual situation of the mining area.
- In lines 82-84. Include more details about the geology of the area.
- The information about climate (lines 90-92) should be before the information of geology, after line 85. Please, include a climatic classification (such as Köppen).
- Line 236: include the reference of the Munsell notation
- In table one, correct: “H2O and SO3”
- Line 617: correct “SO42”
Author Response
The article “Characterisation and environmental implications for soil and water of salt efflorescences associated with metallic mining waste in a Mediterranean region” is an interesting document about the characterisation of several salt efflorescences and their leachates, from Cartagena-La Unión mining area in Spain. The appropriate analytical techniques have been used for the geochemical characterization of the materials. And they have concluded that the high concentrations of some elements such as S and Fe can act as sources of environmental pollutants for soil and water. Therefore, it is a considerable risk for soils and drinking water quality. However, I would like to recommend some changes in the article.
- Include the novelty of the article in the abstract and in the introduction section. In addition, the initial hypothesis of the article can be included in the introduction section.
Done. It has been included in the text.
- Improve the quality of the figures. In Figure 1, increase the font size of the legend. Divide figure 1 into 3 figures to see the images with more detail. Improve the sharpness of figure 3.
Done. Figures 1 and 3 have been improved.
- Line 75: include Spain. “The survey area is in the former mining district of Cartagena-La Unión, located in the Region of Murcia, in south-eastern of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain)”
Done. It has been included in the text.
- In line 87. Explain the actual situation of the mining area.
Done. It has been included in the text.
- In lines 82-84. Include more details about the geology of the area.
Done. It has been included in the text.
- The information about climate (lines 90-92) should be before the information of geology, after line 85. Please, include a climatic classification (such as Köppen).
Done. It has been included in the text.
- Line 236: include the reference of the Munsell notation
Done. Reference and citations to the Munsell Soil Colour Charts have been included in the text.
- In table one, correct: “H2O and SO3”
Done. These two chemical notations in Table 1 have been corrected.
- Line 617: correct “SO42”
Done. This chemical notation has been corrected
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Reviewer 3 Report
Dear authors,
I consider the work presented to be extremely important, however, the weak presentation of the initial sections does not allow me to correctly evaluate the results presented. Please review the entire manuscript for form and for the English used. I made some suggestions in the initial sections (see pdf). I will be delighted to be able to reread your work after a frank review.
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
In response to your comments, we have improved the presentation and grammatical quality of the English and have incorporated the suggestions made in the PDF document sent by the reviewer into the text.
All changes that have been included in the manuscript are written in blue to make it easier to monitor changes to the text.
We would like to acknowledge the work of the reviewer 3, whose critical comments have helped to improve the scientific value of this manuscript.
Roberto Rodríguez, on behalf of the co-authors.
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
The manuscript IS accepted in present form.
