Distribution of Heavy Metals in the Soil Around Tar Creek Sophia R. Hunt Ariel Diaz Salinas
Abstract This experiment is being done to understand how heavy metals are distributed in the soils surrounding Tar Creek. Heavy metals have harmful effects on human health, especially in young people. Mine drainage and multi-story high chat piles left behind in the Tri-state mining district contaminate local Oklahoma waterways, including Tar Creek, with elements such as lead and zinc. Using flood maps of Tar Creek to select sites to analyze. 30m transect lines were laid on each side of the creek and soil cores were taken every 5m creating horizontal profiles.We took the cores to an OSU lab where we sampled each core at 3, 15, and 24 cm creating vertical …show more content…
to the. 4. Zinc is still the most abundant at this site, the lead and cadmium levels were comparatively low, and there wasn't much variation in depth. There was a positive correlation between the distance from Tar Creek and lead, and zinc concentrations in the surrounding soil. It was also found that the cadmium levels were almost always below the level of detection for the XRF machine or small enough to be insignificant, which shows that cadmium contamination is not an issue in the Tar Creek area that was sampled. The samples closest to the creek bed as shown on the graph have the highest concentrations on average, supporting our hypothesis that concentrations increase toward the creek bed. Contrary to our hypothesis, at least with zinc, the highest levels were contained in the shallower samples. Furthermore, we recognized that samples from the east side of Highway 69 have lower values of zinc due to its elevation above the floodplain. Discussion Once the data was graphed, part of our hypothesis was validated. The closer the sample was to the creek or the mining district, the higher heavy metal levels were. Contrary to our hypothesis, the shallower samples had higher levels of contamination. Site 1 had the lowest level of contamination out of all the sites. It is important to note that around 40 years ago there were chat piles in the area around the site, this could lead to the slightly elevated levels coming from the 15cm depth because that soil dates back to about 40 years ago. The 30m core on the east side was taken in an area surrounded by cattails, which is why there is a sharp decrease at that spot. Literature suggests that native cattails, and other wetland spices are extremely efficient at sequestering heavy metals. Douthat bridge, or site two, is where Lytle Creek and Tar Creek meet. Lytle Creek is fed by an upwelling of mine drainage from a collapsed mine shaft. This water is heavily contaminated with heavy metals from the rock face of the mine,
Abstract This experiment is being done to understand how heavy metals are distributed in the soils surrounding Tar Creek. Heavy metals have harmful effects on human health, especially in young people. Mine drainage and multi-story high chat piles left behind in the Tri-state mining district contaminate local Oklahoma waterways, including Tar Creek, with elements such as lead and zinc. Using flood maps of Tar Creek to select sites to analyze. 30m transect lines were laid on each side of the creek and soil cores were taken every 5m creating horizontal profiles.We took the cores to an OSU lab where we sampled each core at 3, 15, and 24 cm creating vertical …show more content…
to the. 4. Zinc is still the most abundant at this site, the lead and cadmium levels were comparatively low, and there wasn't much variation in depth. There was a positive correlation between the distance from Tar Creek and lead, and zinc concentrations in the surrounding soil. It was also found that the cadmium levels were almost always below the level of detection for the XRF machine or small enough to be insignificant, which shows that cadmium contamination is not an issue in the Tar Creek area that was sampled. The samples closest to the creek bed as shown on the graph have the highest concentrations on average, supporting our hypothesis that concentrations increase toward the creek bed. Contrary to our hypothesis, at least with zinc, the highest levels were contained in the shallower samples. Furthermore, we recognized that samples from the east side of Highway 69 have lower values of zinc due to its elevation above the floodplain. Discussion Once the data was graphed, part of our hypothesis was validated. The closer the sample was to the creek or the mining district, the higher heavy metal levels were. Contrary to our hypothesis, the shallower samples had higher levels of contamination. Site 1 had the lowest level of contamination out of all the sites. It is important to note that around 40 years ago there were chat piles in the area around the site, this could lead to the slightly elevated levels coming from the 15cm depth because that soil dates back to about 40 years ago. The 30m core on the east side was taken in an area surrounded by cattails, which is why there is a sharp decrease at that spot. Literature suggests that native cattails, and other wetland spices are extremely efficient at sequestering heavy metals. Douthat bridge, or site two, is where Lytle Creek and Tar Creek meet. Lytle Creek is fed by an upwelling of mine drainage from a collapsed mine shaft. This water is heavily contaminated with heavy metals from the rock face of the mine,