The amount of copper, zinc and sulfate has doubled in the alpine streams flowing from the mountains over the past three decades.
Colorado's mountain streams are facing a 'real challenge' from a rising concentration of heavy metal levels.These rising levels are only worsening with climate change, a new study found.The amount of copper, zinc and sulfate has doubled in the alpine streams flowing from the mountains over the past three decades, according to the study published in Water Resources Research by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey.Bedrock full of metal sulfides is common in Colorado.
Melt it and you create windows for groundwater to get into rock that has not seen water and oxygen for millennia, and it will begin to oxidize quite quickly,' Manning said.To reach their findings, scientists looked at 40 years of water chemistry data, with final samples collected in 2021. The data had been taken from 33 streams in 17 watersheds above 10,000 feet in elevation, meaning they had been pristine and untouched for the last 50 to 100 years.
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