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Characterization of heavy metal contamination in two lateral lakes of the Lower Coeur d'Alene River Valley, Northern Idaho Item Info
- Title:
- Characterization of heavy metal contamination in two lateral lakes of the Lower Coeur d'Alene River Valley, Northern Idaho
- Authors:
- Hoffman, Mark
- Date Created (ISO Standard):
- 1995-05
- Description:
- The lower Coeur d'Alene River valley in Northern Idaho has received heavy metal contamination from over a century of upstream mining activity. Medicine and Thompson Lakes are two of the 11 lateral lakes of the Coeur d'Alene River that lie on the flood plain. In their bottom sediments is preserved a stratigraphic record of upstream mining operations. A freeze box, designed by a Quaternary geologist in Finland, was used to sample the lake bottom sediments. This method preserves the vertical stratigraphy. As little as 10 cm and up to 52 cm of undisturbed tailing sediments with "varve-like" features was recovered. Geochemical analyses of these sediments show maximum concentrations of 49 ppm Ag, 427 ppm As, 68 ppm Cd, 341 ppm Cu, 10.9% Fe, 1.8 ppm Hg, 1.1% Mn, 1.8% Pb, 48 ppm Sb and 1.1% Zn. 137Cs was used to establish the depositional chronology of the lake bottom sediments. Fourteen centimeters of sediment were deposited between 1951 and 1964, and 10-12 cm from 1964 to 1992. Particle size distribution and analysis found that the fractions containing the highest Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn concentrations are the least abundant in the samples. The most abundant size fraction has some of the lowest heavy metal concentrations. This study shows that the contamination in the lakes is restricted to the shallow sub-bottom and that heavy metal concentrations drop to background levels within a few meters of depth.
- Subjects:
- heavy metals mine wastes sediment
- Location:
- Coeur d'Alene River; Thompson Lake; Medicine Lake
- Latitude:
- 47.49
- Longitude:
- -116.72
- Additional Lat-Long:
- 47.47, -116.58
- Collection:
- Coeur d'Alene Basin
- Rights:
- Rights to the digital resource are held by the University of Idaho. http://www.uidaho.edu/
- Publisher:
- University of Idaho
- Contributing Institution:
- University of Idaho
- Type:
- Text
- Format:
- application/pdf
- Cataloger:
- wbv
- Date Digitized:
- 2012
Source
- Preferred Citation:
- "Characterization of heavy metal contamination in two lateral lakes of the Lower Coeur d'Alene River Valley, Northern Idaho", Idaho Waters Digital Library, University of Idaho Library Digital Collections, https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/iwdl/items/iwdl-cda_hoffman_1995.html
Rights
- Rights:
- Rights to the digital resource are held by the University of Idaho. http://www.uidaho.edu/