Ross Basin, Colorado

Western view toward the Red Mountains near Silverton, Colorado, taken just upstream from the North Fork Cement Creek drainage in 2006. The photo illustrates acidic drainage (red drainage at right) and less acidic drainage (white drainage at left of photo) that originates from altered rocks and mines in the watershed. Black rocks in foreground are mine waste clasts coated with manganese oxide. Weathering of bedrock and mine wastes, in addition to draining mine adits, can generate wide variations in water quality within the watershed.