SELENIUM MOBILIZATION IN SMALL WATERSHEDS OF KANSAS AND UTAH, A HYDROGEOCHEMICAL STUDY

Public concerns about the quality of waterfowl habitat in the study areas of Utah and Kansas are growing. While selenium is known to be an important nutrient to sustain life, it is toxic at high concentration for many aquatic organisms in their developmental stages. Selenium concentrates in sediments where it bio-accumulates in riparian and wetland vegetation, becoming available for water fowl and other aquatic biota. To date no studies have traced contaminant pathways for selenium from source areas in arid soils through the mouths of western watersheds. In order to determine the factors that influence the mobility and speciation of selenium in western watersheds two small watersheds (one in Kansas and one in Utah) will be studied. By using a regional “paired” study design the role of climate and land use can be delineated. Preliminary surface water and sediment samples were taken from upper, middle, and downstream locations in Pariette Draw, UT. XRD will be used for mineralogical analysis of the samples. A sequential extracted procedure will be used to gain an understanding of the relative concentrations of selenium in different soil and sediment compartments. Water samples will be analyzed by ICP-MS. Upon merging the lines of analysis insights into the geochemical parameters that lead to the mobilization of selenium with be gained.