Post Gold King Mine Spill Investigation of Metal Stability in Water and Sediments of the Animas River Watershed.

ABSTRACT: We applied spectroscopy, microscopy, diffraction, and aqueous chemistry methods to investigate the persistence of metals in water and sediments from the Animas River 13 days after the Gold King Mine spill (August 5, 2015). The Upper Animas River watershed, located in San Juan Colorado, is heavily mineralized and impacted by acid mine drainage, with low pH water and elevated metal concentrations in sediments (108.4 ± 1.8 mg kg^-1 Pb, 32.4 ± 0.5 mg kg^-1 Cu, 729.6 ± 5.7 mg kg^-1 Zn, and 51 314.6 ± 295.4 mg kg^-1 Fe). Phosphate and nitrogen species were detected in water and sediment samples from Farmington, New Mexico, an intensive agricultural area downstream from the Animas River, while metal concentrations were low compared to those observed upstrea

SUBMITTER: Rodriguez-Freire L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5568564 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature