Assessing uranium and select trace elements associated with breccia pipe uranium deposits in the Colorado River and main tributaries in Grand Canyon, USA.

ABSTRACT: Assessing chemical loading from streams in remote, difficult-to-access watersheds is challenging. The Grand Canyon area in northern Arizona, an international tourist destination and sacred place for many Native Americans, is characterized by broad plateaus divided by canyons as much as two-thousand meters deep and hosts some of the highest-grade uranium deposits in the U.S. From 2015-2018 major surface waters in Grand Canyon were monitored for select elements associated with breccia-pipe uranium deposits in the area, including uranium, arsenic, cadmium, and lead. Dissolved constituents in the Colorado River were monitored upstream (Lees Ferry), in the middle (Phantom Ranch), and downstream (Diamond Creek) of uranium mining areas. Concentrations of uranium, arsenic, cadmium, and lead at the

SUBMITTER: Tillman FD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7641433 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature