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Influence of diurnal cycles on metal concentrations and loads in streams draining abandoned mine lands: an example from High Ore Creek, Montana

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Environmental Geology

Abstract

Diurnal water samples were collected simultaneously at four locations along High Ore Creek (Montana, USA), a small stream with near-neutral pH that contains elevated concentrations of Zn, Mn, Cd, and As from abandoned mines near its headwaters. During the same time period, two sets of synoptic samples were collected by workers moving in opposite directions along the stream. Large diurnal fluctuations in Zn concentration were found at three of the 24-h monitoring stations, but not at the outlet to a settling pond. Because the concentrations of Zn were dropping at most locations in the creek during the day (in response to the daily cycle of day-time attenuation and night-time release), the synoptic sampler who moved upstream obtained a data set that led to the conclusion that Zn load increased with distance downstream. The sampler who moved in a downstream direction obtained the opposite results. Thus, failure to take short-term diurnal cycling into account can lead to incorrect conclusions regarding spatial or temporal trends in water quality within a watershed.

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Acknowledgments

Funding for this work was provided by grants from the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Montana Board of Research and Commercialization Technology. We thank James Madison for help with the field work, and David Nimick (USGS-Helena) for his continued collaboration on this and other projects dealing with diurnal metal cycling.

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Author notes

  1. Jodi Belanger-Woods

    Present address: US Bureau of Land Management, Butte, MT, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geological Engineering, Montana Tech of The University of Montana, Butte, MT, 59701, USA

    Christopher H. Gammons & Lica Milodragovich

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  1. Christopher H. Gammons
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  2. Lica Milodragovich
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  3. Jodi Belanger-Woods
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Correspondence to Christopher H. Gammons.

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Gammons, C.H., Milodragovich, L. & Belanger-Woods, J. Influence of diurnal cycles on metal concentrations and loads in streams draining abandoned mine lands: an example from High Ore Creek, Montana. Environ Geol 53, 611–622 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-007-0676-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-007-0676-z

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