M. Alisa Mast (Former Employee)

Ground- and surface-water samples were collected in the vicinity of the Standard Mine in west-central Colorado in order to characterize the local ground-water flow system, determine metal concentrations in local ground water, and better understand factors controlling the discharge of metal-rich waters from the mine. The sampling program included a one-time sampling of springs, mine adits...

PREFACE This Open-File Report consists of a presentation given in Crested Butte, Colorado on December 13, 2007 to the Standard Mine Advisory Group. The presentation was paired with another presentation given by the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety on the physical features and geology of the Standard Mine. The presentation in this Open-File Report summarizes the...

The small watershed approach is well-suited but underutilized in mercury research. We applied the small watershed approach to investigate total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) dynamics in streamwater at the five diverse forested headwater catchments of the US Geological Survey Water, Energy, and Biogeochemical Budgets (WEBB) program. At all sites, baseflow THg was generally less...

Seasonal snowpack chemistry data from the Rocky Mountain region of the US was examined to identify long-term trends in concentration and chemical deposition in snow and in snow-water equivalent. For the period 1993-2004, comparisons of trends were made between 54 Rocky Mountain Snowpack sites and 16 National Atmospheric Deposition Program wetfall sites located nearby in the region. The...

Changes in stream chemistry were studied for 4 years following large wildfires that burned in Glacier National Park during the summer of 2003. Burned and unburned drainages were monitored from December 2003 through August 2007 for streamflow, major constituents, nutrients, and suspended sediment following the fires. Stream-water nitrate concentrations showed the greatest response to fire

This report summarizes historical water-quality data for six National Park units that compose the Rocky Mountain Network. The park units in Colorado are Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, and Rocky Mountain National Park; and in Montana, they are Glacier National Park, Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site, and Little Bighorn...

Mine drainage and underground water samples were collected for analysis of inorganic solutes as part of a 1-year, hydrogeologic investigation of the Standard Mine and vicinity. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has listed the Standard Mine in the Elk Creek drainage near Crested Butte, Colorado, as a Superfund Site because discharge from the Standard Mine enters Elk Creek...

During spring 2004, the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the National Park Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service collected and analyzed snowpack samples for 65 sites in the Rocky Mountain region from New Mexico to Montana. Snowpacks were sampled from late February through early April and generally had well-below-average- to near-average snow-water...

Current-use pesticides (CUPs) and banned organochlorine compounds (OCCs) were measured in precipitation (snowpack and rain) and lake sediments from two national parks in the Western United States to determine their occurrence and distribution in high-elevation environments. CUPs frequently detected in snow were endosulfan, dacthal, and chlorothalonil in concentrations ranging from 0.07...

Organochlorine compounds and current-use pesticides were measured in snow and lake-sediment samples from Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and Glacier National Park in Montana to determine their occurrence and distribution in high-elevation aquatic ecosystems. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the National Park Service, collected snow samples at eight sites in Rocky...

No abstract available.

Precipitation, snowpack, and surface-water samples collected during 1995-2003 were analyzed to evaluate the effects of emission reductions at the Hayden powerplant on water chemistry in the Mount Zirkel Wilderness Area. The Hayden powerplant, one of two large coal-fired powerplants in the Yampa Valley, was retrofitted with control systems during late 1998 and 1999 to reduce emissions of...