Screening assessment of dissolved zinc from inactive mines in a mountain watershed

摘要

A screening-level assessment of dissolved zinc from inactive and abandoned metal mines in the Cement Creek Basin was performed. The basin is part of the Uppr Animas River Basin in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado. Stream discharge and dissolved zinc concentrations Were measured at 49 stations below nonpoint sources including tailings and waste rock, point sources Such as adits, and background areas. One measurement was made at a station during three flow Events: storm runoff, peak snowmelt runoff, and baseflow. The highest concentrations occurred in The upper part of the basin immediately downstream from nonpoint and point source discharges, Especially in the North Fork of Cement Creek.