Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Mercury Transport In Stream Sediments Of The Colorado Plateau, William Graf

William L. Graf

Field, documentary, and laboratory analyses show that geomorphic processes are a central component in explaining the origins and transportation of the 2,200 kg of mercury annually deposited in Lake Powell in Arizona and Utah. Almost all the mercury in the lake is derived from weathering of natural source rocks in the lake's 279,000 km2 drainage area and delivered in fluvial sediments. Of the mean annual mercury input to the lake, 40 percent comes from a single tributary, the Green River. The Colorado River contributes 40 percent of the water to the lake, but only 6 percent of the mercury. Local …