Watershed Biogeochemistry, Groundwater, and Metal Transport
Investigates how snowmelt-driven hydrology mobilizes metals such as manganese and uranium through soils, groundwater, and hyporheic zones in the East River Watershed and legacy uranium mill sites of western Colorado.
Knowledge Graph (613 nodes, 8470 connections)
Research Primer
Background
Mountain watersheds like those surrounding the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory are the headwaters for much of the American West. What happens chemically and hydrologically in these high-elevation catchments — how water moves through soil, sediment, and bedrock, and what dissolves, precipitates, or transforms along the way — sets the quality and quantity of water delivered to downstream communities, ranches, and ecosystems. Watershed biogeochemistry is the study of how water, rock, microbes, and organic matter interact to cycle elements such as carbon, nitrogen, iron, manganese, and uranium through a landscape. In the Gunnison Basin, where mining legacies, shale-rich bedrock, alpine wetlands, and snowmelt-driven streams all converge, these interactions determine whether metals stay locked in sediments or move into drinking water, irrigation supplies, and fish habitat.
A few core ideas make the research in this area easier to follow. Groundwater-surface water interactions describe the two-way exchange between streams and the water stored beneath them; a central meeting place for this exchange is the hyporheic zone, the shallow, mixed layer of saturated sediment just beneath and beside a streambed where river water and groundwater blend. Weathering is the chemical breakdown of rock by water and gases, which releases dissolved ions (solutes) into streams. The concentration-discharge relationship tracks how the concentration of a solute changes as stream flow rises and falls; when concentrations barely change with flow, the system is described as chemostatic, a sign that groundwater and rock reactions buffer the chemistry. Redox reactions — the gain or loss of electrons — govern whether metals like manganese, iron, and uranium remain stuck to sediments or dissolve into water, and these reactions are shaped by dissolved oxygen, dissolved organic matter (the carbon-rich molecules that fuel stream microbes), and pH.
Finally, metal mobilization is central to this research. Metals sorb (stick) onto mineral surfaces, especially iron and manganese oxides, and can be released when oxygen levels, acidity, or organic carbon supply change. Because the Gunnison Basin contains Mancos shale, legacy uranium mill tailings near Grand Junction, and alpine wetlands that produce large amounts of dissolved organic carbon, understanding where, when, and why metals move is both a scientific and a management priority.
Foundational work
Early research in the region focused on how land use shaped water and sediment yield. Lusby's 14-year paired-watershed study near Grand Junction showed that grazed watersheds produced about 30 percent more runoff and 45 percent more sediment than ungrazed watersheds, with a strong correlation between bare soil and annual runoff (Lusby, 1970). That work established the basic link between surface cover, infiltration, and downstream water quality that still frames watershed research in the Colorado plateau and Rockies.
Decades later, graduate-thesis and site-characterization studies in the East River basin built the conceptual scaffolding for modern biogeochemical work. Investigations of concentration-discharge behavior in Copper Creek began to quantify groundwater contributions to alpine streams using solute chemistry and tracer-based residence times (Ruckhaus, 2017), while work on alpine wetlands identified Rock Creek and Gothic Creek as outsized sources of dissolved organic carbon to the East River (Rainaldi, 2016). Together these studies framed the East River as a natural laboratory where rock type, wetlands, and groundwater each leave a distinct chemical fingerprint.
Key findings
A recurring theme is that small parts of the landscape disproportionately control what flows downstream. Rock Creek and Gothic Creek carry dissolved organic carbon concentrations 2.5 to 8.9 times higher than the main East River and its other tributaries, and their wetlands store millions of kilograms of soil organic carbon, acting as biogeochemical hot spots (Rainaldi, 2016). Bedrock type matters just as much: column experiments on Mancos shale from the East River valley showed that contact-metamorphosed shale released calcium an order of magnitude faster than unmetamorphosed shale, a difference tied to roughly 42 percent more calcite in the metamorphosed samples (Sams, 2018). Flow rate through the rock also changed release rates by an order of magnitude, meaning that how fast water moves is as important as what it moves through.
The structure of the subsurface controls where and how long water lingers. Detailed mapping of two East River meanders combining sediment cores, ground-penetrating radar, and historical aerial imagery showed that meanders with similar hydraulic conductivity could still produce very different groundwater flow patterns and hyporheic residence times because of their geometry and internal layering (Malenda et al., 2019). Remote sensing successfully tracked six decades of river migration and abandoned channels, revealing the buried architecture that governs present-day flow paths (Malenda et al., 2019); (Malenda, 2019).
Metal cycling in these systems is strongly seasonal and tightly coupled to hydrology. In the East River streambed, oxygenated river water carrying dissolved organic carbon mixes deeper into the sediments during spring snowmelt, temporarily dissolving manganese oxides, while summer and fall groundwater upwelling brings dissolved manganese back up to mix with oxygenated water and re-precipitate manganese oxides (Bryant et al., 2020). Model scenarios suggest that under warmer, lower-snow futures, less dissolved manganese will be exported and more will accumulate in the upper streambed — with implications for the sorption of contaminant metals (Bryant et al., 2020). At the former uranium mill site near Grand Junction, uranium was found associated with aluminum-silicon gel coatings, evaporite salts in the unsaturated zone, and organic carbon, each with different mobility behavior (Johnson et al., 2021). Follow-up column experiments showed that river flooding is more effective than rainfall at flushing uranium from vadose-zone sediments and that organic carbon provides strong uranium sorption surfaces (Johnson et al., 2022). Broader work on redox-dynamic environments has shown that calcium-uranyl-carbonate complexes kinetically slow the reduction of uranium to its insoluble form, helping explain why uranium can remain mobile even in seemingly favorable conditions (Dewey, 2020).
Current frontier
Early work in the region concentrated on land use and surface hydrology, and studies in the 2010s built a chemical and hydrologic portrait of the East River watershed. Since 2020, research has shifted toward linking processes across scales and toward quantitative, predictive models. Push-pull tracer tests at the Grand Junction uranium site are being used to derive aquifer-specific parameters for reactive transport models that move beyond single sorption coefficients to include cation exchange, uranium sorption, and gypsum dissolution (Johnson et al., 2023). Hyporheic-zone modeling is now being used to forecast how changes in snowmelt timing will reshape metal cycling in streambeds (Bryant et al., 2020), and floodplain stratigraphy studies are feeding more realistic three-dimensional representations of alluvial aquifers into watershed-scale models (Malenda et al., 2019).
Methodologically, the frontier combines fission-track radiography, electron microscopy, column experiments, geophysics, and coupled flow-and-reaction modeling to connect grain-scale mineralogy to watershed-scale export (Johnson et al., 2021); (Johnson et al., 2022). The overarching question driving this work is how mountain watersheds will respond to shifts in snowpack, flooding frequency, and vegetation — and what those shifts will mean for downstream water quality.
Open questions
Several questions remain open for the next decade. How will reduced snowpack and earlier snowmelt reorganize hyporheic mixing and the balance between metal release and metal accumulation in streambeds (Bryant et al., 2020)? How tightly are dissolved organic carbon production in alpine wetlands, weathering of metamorphosed and unmetamorphosed shale, and legacy metal contamination coupled across the Gunnison Basin, and can these couplings be represented in a single watershed-scale reactive transport model (Rainaldi, 2016); (Sams, 2018); (Johnson et al., 2023)? How often do floods need to occur to flush uranium and other metals from unsaturated sediments, and how will changing flood regimes alter this natural attenuation (Johnson et al., 2022)? Answering these questions will require sustained, multi-scale observations of the kind the East River community observatory is beginning to enable.
References
Bryant, S. R., Sawyer, A. H., Briggs, M. A., Saup, C. M., Nelson, A. R., Wilkins, M. J., Christensen, J. N., & Williams, K. H. (2020). Seasonal Manganese Transport in the Hyporheic Zone of a Snowmelt-Dominated River (East River, Colorado). Hydrogeology Journal. →
Dewey, C. (2020). Water quality in dynamic redox environments: Coupled hydrologic-biogeochemical controls on metal contaminant mobility. →
Johnson, R. H., et al. (2023). Single-Well Push-Pull Tracer Test Analyses to Determine Aquifer Reactive Transport Parameters at a Former Uranium Mill Site (Grand Junction, Colorado). Minerals. →
Johnson, R. H., Hall, S. M., & Tigar, A. D. (2021). Using Fission-Track Radiography Coupled with Scanning Electron Microscopy for Efficient Identification of Solid-Phase Uranium Mineralogy at a Former Uranium Pilot Mill (Grand Junction, Colorado). Geosciences. →
Johnson, R. H., Tigar, A. D., & Richardson, C. D. (2022). Column-Test Data Analyses and Geochemical Modeling to Determine Uranium Reactive Transport Parameters at a Former Uranium Mill Site (Grand Junction, Colorado). Minerals. →
Lusby, G. C. (1970). Hydrologic and Biotic Effects of Grazing vs. Non-Grazing near Grand Junction, Colorado. Journal of Range Management. →
Malenda, H. F. (2019). From grain to floodplain: Evaluating heterogeneity of floodplain hydrostratigraphy using sedimentology, geophysics, and remote sensing. →
Malenda, H. F., Sutfin, N. A., Guryan, G., Stauffer, S., Rowland, J. C., Williams, K. H., & Singha, K. (2019). From Grain to Floodplain: Evaluating heterogeneity of floodplain hydrostatigraphy using sedimentology, geophysics, and remote sensing. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms. →
Rainaldi, A. (2016). The Role of Alpine Wetlands as Hot Spots of Dissolved Organic Carbon in the East River, Colorado. →
Ruckhaus, M. (2017). Concentration-discharge behavior as an indication of groundwater contribution in Copper Creek sub-catchment of the Upper East River Basin. →
Sams, A. (2018). Contact Metamorphism of the Mancos Shale: Impacts on Solute Release and Weatherability in the East River Valley, Gothic, CO. →
Concept (141) →
weathering
biogeochemical reactions
metal concentrations
hydraulic gradient
dissolved organic matter
Major form of organic carbon across aquatic ecosystems, fueling stream metabolism and mediating key biogeochemical processes
water table depths
dissolved oxygen
CO2 flux
pH
porosity
Show 131 more concepts
concentration-discharge relationships
nitrogen pollution
Human-induced nitrogen input that has doubled biologically-available nitrogen on Earth
hypogene mineralization
Mineral formation from ascending hydrothermal solutions
groundwater-surface water interactions
The bidirectional exchange of water between groundwater aquifers and surface water bodies including streams, with groundwater contributing baseflow to...
mountain hydrology
The study of water cycling processes in mountainous terrain, including complex interactions between snowpack dynamics, topography, vegetation, and sub...
hydraulic connectivity
The degree to which water movement is facilitated or impeded through connected flow paths in subsurface sediments
discharge
transit time distributions
hyporheic zone
Shallow subsurface zone where river and groundwater mix, serving as a source or sink of reactive nitrogen depending on water residence times and nitro...
reactive transport
redox reactions
pyrite oxidation
Oxidative dissolution of pyrite mineral producing sulfuric acid and iron oxides under oxic conditions
nitrate removal
Removal of nitrate from porewater through denitrification and other biogeochemical processes
integrated hydrologic modeling
Coupled modeling approach simulating surface and subsurface hydrologic processes including groundwater flow and particle tracking
water balance
Accounting framework where annual discharge equals precipitation minus evapotranspiration minus storage changes
aerobic respiration
subsurface discharge
isotopic fractionation
solute export
petrogenic organic carbon
Organic carbon derived from sedimentary rocks that is often poorly quantified and influences soil organic carbon composition, age, and stability
infiltration
reactive transport modeling
Modeling approach that couples transport processes with geochemical reactions to understand subsurface flow and chemical interactions
biogeochemical heterogeneity
Spatial variability in biogeochemical processes and solute sources within watersheds, particularly between shallow soil zones and deeper groundwater z...
iron redox cycling
CO2
flow path partitioning
The division of water flow between different hydrological pathways including surface flow, shallow subsurface flow, and deep groundwater flow
end-member mixing
N-limited
scattering
hysteresis
concentration-discharge relationship
The relationship between solute concentrations and discharge in streams, widely used as a metric for interpreting interaction of hydrological processe...
DIC export
acid-base interactions
metal mobilisation
temporal partitioning
anaerobic methane oxidation
Microbial process where methane is oxidized under anoxic conditions, often coupled to reduction of alternative electron acceptors
transcriptomics
The study of the complete set of RNA transcripts produced by the genome under specific circumstances
hyporheic zone
Redox-stratified and temporally dynamic sediments in river corridors where biological processes mediate sulfur transformations
shale weathering
Chemical and physical breakdown of sedimentary shale rocks through interactions with water, atmospheric gases, and biological processes
Iron oxidation
community observatory
A collaborative research infrastructure where multiple institutions conduct coordinated measurements and experiments
Michaelis-Menten kinetics
drag coefficient
Stream Gas Exchange Rates
C-Q relationship
sulfate reduction
Microbial reduction of sulfate coupled to organic matter oxidation in anoxic environments resulting in formation of low solubility sulfide minerals
recharge
critical zone processes
transmissivity feedback
redox zonation
Spatial organization of aerobic and anaerobic zones based on dissolved oxygen availability that controls biogeochemical reactions
transmissivity feedback
A modeling approach where downslope flow responds to rainfall or snowmelt recharge through accommodating new recharge within a rising water table with...
biogeochemical hot spots
Areas of disproportionately high biogeochemical activity or export relative to surrounding landscape
fractured bedrock
multiscale measurements
Measurements spanning multiple spatial and temporal scales within a watershed
saturation index
cation exchange
Process where cations in solution exchange with cations adsorbed on mineral surfaces
hot spots and hot moments
groundwater recharge
The downward movement of water from surface water to groundwater, occurring through infiltration and percolation processes and declining under warming...
uranium mineralogy
The association of uranium with different solid-phase mineral forms that influences uranium mobility between solid and water phases
chemostasis
weathering front
Zone of active mineral dissolution and precipitation reactions that advances through bedrock over time
sorption
connectedness
iron oxides
mineral dissolution kinetics
Rate laws governing the chemical breakdown of primary minerals as functions of temperature, pH, and saturation state
matric potential
end-member mixing analysis
Statistical approach to quantify proportional contributions of different water sources to mixed samples using tracer concentrations
fate and transport of chemicals
power-law distributions
chemostatic behavior
Concentration-discharge pattern where solute concentrations remain relatively constant across flow conditions, indicated by C-Q slope near zero
rising limb
falling limb
chlorite dissolution
watershed function
The integrated biogeochemical, hydrological, and ecological processes that control water, energy, and nutrient cycling within a watershed
decomposition rates
hysteresis
Different trajectory of C-Q relationships during rising and falling limbs of hydrographs that indicate differences in timing of hydrological response ...
subsurface water storage
The amount of water stored in soil and subsurface compartments that responds dynamically to hydrological inputs and outputs
redox gradients
Spatial variations in oxidation-reduction conditions within floodplain environments that can form within microsites, along textural transitions, or al...
river networks
photoreductive dissolution
Fe(II)-NOM complexation
Formation of coordination complexes between Fe(II) ions and natural organic matter ligands
carbon partitioning
Distribution of carbon between different reservoirs including atmosphere, subsurface, and exported dissolved phases during weathering processes
metabolomes
metal-oxide precipitation
gas exchange velocities
oxygen ingress
fraction modern (Fm)
nutrient acquisition depth
Vertical distribution of plant nutrient uptake from soil surface through saprolite to bedrock
nitrification
The oxidation of ammonia to nitrate via nitrite, linking nitrogenous organic matter remineralization to nitrogen loss processes in the microbial N-cyc...
steady-state conditions
diabatic processes
chemolithoautotrophic DNRA
ammonium
sample treatment effects
Schmidt number
aromaticity index
87Sr/86Sr ratios
thioarsenate formation
free advective mass outflux boundary
reaction network
NO3
MAOC
organic carbon depolymerization
Nominal oxidation state of carbon (NOSC)
XANES fitting
X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure spectroscopy fitting method using reference compound spectra to identify chemical species
coercivity spectra
FTICR-MS
Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry for ultrahigh-resolution molecular characterization
natural attenuation
sorption distribution coefficient (Kd)
calcium uranium carbonate complexes
density fractionation
Physical separation method to isolate soil organic matter pools with different physicochemical protection mechanisms
stable isotope analysis
Analysis of carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios to determine trophic position and dietary composition
St-Venant equations
Manning's n
T2 relaxation time distribution
river migration
Lateral movement of river channels through erosion and deposition processes over time
porosity evolution
Changes in rock porosity and permeability due to mineral dissolution and precipitation reactions during weathering
carbon evasion
The transfer of CO2 from water to atmosphere through gas exchange at the air-water interface
sheet flow
Overland flow that occurs when rainfall intensity exceeds the rate at which water can enter the soil
sediment transport
The movement of eroded soil and rock particles by water flow
redox zones
Saturated zone
diffusion-limited environment
Subsurface conditions where chemical transport is limited to diffusion rather than advection, creating oxygen-depleted anoxic conditions
stream gains and losses
chloride
moraine exposure age
Damköhler number
Dimensionless number comparing transport timescale to reaction timescale, used to determine whether transport or reaction processes dominate
electrical mobility
capillary fringe
vadose zone
Unsaturated zone above the water table where pore spaces contain both air and water
calcium common ion effect
Protocol (41) →
drive-point piezometer groundwater sampling
Systematic collection of groundwater samples at regular depth intervals using sediment coring and peristaltic pumping, with immediate field analysis a...
Piezometer groundwater monitoring
Installation of three 10-meter deep monitoring wells along a hillslope transect equipped with suction lysimeters, pressure transducers, and temperatur...
Hydrologiska Byråns Vattenbalansavdelning (HBV)
High-resolution integrated hydrological modeling using coupled PRMS-MODFLOW system to simulate surface water and groundwater interactions extending 40...
TOC analysis
Comprehensive chemical analysis of water samples including major ions, trace metals, and conservative tracers using multiple analytical techniques. In...
standard water chemistry analysis suite
Standard analytical chemistry methods using ion chromatography for anions and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for cations and trace eleme...
Reactive transport modeling
Integrated groundwater flow and reactive transport modeling using PHT-USG coupled with MODFLOW-USG for geochemical reactions and PHREEQC for reaction ...
X-ray diffraction mineralogy
Depth-resolved sampling and analysis of subsurface materials for mineralogical composition, organic matter content, and spatial distribution of weathe...
Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry
High-resolution mass spectrometry analysis using Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance to characterize the molecular composition of organic matter...
SEM-EDS microanalysis
Quantitative XRD analysis of powdered rock samples using Rietveld refinement to determine mineral concentrations and spatial distribution. Samples ana...
RTK-GNSS cross-section surveying
Real-Time Kinematic Global Navigation Satellite System methods used to survey channel cross-sections and document channel geometry. Cross-sections wer...
Show 31 more protocols
Stepped-temperature elemental analysis
Stepped-temperature thermal analysis to quantify readily oxidizable organic carbon (OC400), total inorganic carbon (TIC), and residual organic carbon ...
C-Q hysteresis analysis
A novel approach that captures the difference in concentration in a river segment over the difference in discharge, accounting for gains, losses or fr...
automated water sampling
Autonomous sampling system using osmotic pumps to continuously collect water samples over extended periods for chemical analysis. Tubing inlets placed...
Henry's law headspace equilibration
Aqueous CO2 concentrations determined by headspace equilibration in glass bottles followed by IRGA analysis of extracted headspace gas with correction...
CrunchTope reactive transport modeling
Development and application of a 2-D multiphase reactive transport model using PFLOTRAN to simulate coupled hydrological and biogeochemical processes ...
Multi-year synoptic stream chemistry sampling
Longitudinal grab sampling along Coal Creek mainstem during three critical hydrograph stages (peak flow, falling limb, low flow) across multiple years...
Solid Phase Extraction
Sample pre-treatment method using PPL cartridges (Bond Elut) after acidifying samples to pH 2 with phosphoric acid to extract organic compounds.
density fractionation
Separation of sediment organic carbon into free light fraction (FLF), occluded light fraction (OLF), and heavy fraction (HF) using sodium polytungstat...
Ferrozine method for iron determination
Colorimetric determination of ferrous iron concentrations using ferrozine reagent with spectrophotometric measurement at 562 nm absorption peak and ca...
Stable Water Isotope Analysis
Measurement of hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios using Off-Axis Integrated Cavity Output Spectrometer with auto-sampler and heated injector block. Re...
Sequential NaCl-pyrophosphate extraction
Sequential chemical extractions using water, sodium pyrophosphate, HCl, and sodium dithionite to selectively dissolve mineral phases of varying crysta...
Multi-method bedrock geophysical characterization
Integrated approach combining borehole drilling with comprehensive geophysical logging including NMR, electrical resistivity, temperature, and electro...
Resazurin-based aerobic respiration assay
Measurement of oxygen consumption rates in pore water samples using resazurin as an indicator dye. Samples preserved at 4°C for 24 hours before spectr...
EXAFS spectroscopy
Extended X-ray absorption fine structure analysis of Fe-bearing colloids using synchrotron radiation with cryogenic sample preparation and shell-by-sh...
Strontium isotope source tracing in plant tissues
Sequential extraction and ICP-MS analysis of soil pools and plant tissues to trace nutrient sources using 87Sr/86Sr ratios. Includes mixing model calc...
Sterivex filtration
Samples filtered through 0.22 μm Sterivex filters with housings made of Eastar co-polyester.
Methylene blue spectrophotometry
Dissolved sulfide concentration determined by reacting H2S with N,N-dimethyl-p-phenylene diamine under acidic conditions to form methylene blue.
Batch incubation experiments
Anaerobic incubation of hyporheic sediments with artificial river water for 57 days to study kinetics of Fe(II), Mn(II), DOC and nitrate. Conducted in...
Falling-head slug test
Systematic characterization of alluvial sediment physical properties through grain size analysis and bulk density measurements to derive hydraulic con...
Groundwater biostimulation experiments
Large number of groundwater manipulation and biostimulation experiments conducted primarily in plot C study area.
DI water extractable organic carbon and nutrient extraction
Deionized water extraction of sediments following Gregorich and Carter (2007) to measure dissolved nutrients and organic carbon. Designed to minimize ...
gas sampling from lysimeters
Gas samples were collected with a peristaltic pump from pre-installed lysimeters and stored in pre-evacuated serum bottles.
Field water sample collection
Water samples filtered in field using 0.2 micron filter into 50 ml falcon tubes and shipped on ice for analysis.
Borehole drilling and well completion
Drilling of boreholes in 2017 and 2018 and completion as vertically discrete nested monitoring wells and single monitoring wells. Includes well constr...
Climate change scenario modeling
Application of uniform temperature increases to historical climate sequences to assess hydrological response to warming. Seasonal warming scenarios ap...
In-situ injection-based hydraulic testing
Single-packer apparatus testing with in-line flow meter and interval pressure monitoring during drilling advancement.
SEM-EDS analysis
Mica sheets are placed over thin sections, irradiated in a nuclear reactor, and examined under microscopy to identify areas of elevated uranium concen...
TPM normalization
Normalization of transcriptomic data using Transcripts Per Million (TPM) method.
APHA Standard Method for DBP Formation Potential
Standardized chlorination procedure to simulate drinking water treatment and quantify the potential for organic matter to form regulated disinfection ...
Scanning Electron Microscopy
Examination of collected substrates to evaluate particle loading, morphology, and spatial distribution.
Synoptic watershed sampling for DOC export hotspot identification
Spatially distributed sampling campaign conducted during peak hydrologic conditions to identify locations of enhanced dissolved organic carbon export ...
Place (54) →
East River Watershed
PLM1
Pumphouse
Meander C
Upper East River
PLM3
Oh-Be-Joyful quadrangle
PLM6
Oh-be-joyful Creek
Mancos Shale
Show 44 more places
PLM2
East-Taylor Watershed
Butte SNOTEL Site
East River Community Observatory
PH
ER
EAQ
PLM4
Pinal Creek
Butte SNOTEL station
floodplain
Mississippi River
East River floodplain
Gothic Creek
Copper
Rustlers
Mackenzie River Basin
upper Mississippi River Basin
Santa Cruz Soil Chronosequence
Billy Bar meteorological station
GJO site
Monticello
East River at Almont
Loire watershed
EBC
Upper East River Colorado Watersheds
Mokelumne River watershed
Rustlers Creek
GJAST-20
Susquehanna Shale Hills critical zone observatory
East River Science Focus Area
GJAST-14
GJAST-15
MW1
Maimai watershed
Mackenzie basin
hillslope
ERW watershed
Yukon River basin
Orange County
Meander A
upper Elk Creek Basin
Canadian Light Source
PLM
Publication (11) →
Seasonal Manganese Transport in the Hyporheic Zone of a Snowmelt-Dominated River (East River, Colorado)
Single-Well Push–Pull Tracer Test Analyses to Determine Aquifer Reactive Transport Parameters at a Former Uranium Mill Site (Grand Junction, Colorado)
Column-Test Data Analyses and Geochemical Modeling to Determine Uranium Reactive Transport Parameters at a Former Uranium Mill Site (Grand Junction, Colorado)
Using Fission-Track Radiography Coupled with Scanning Electron Microscopy for Efficient Identification of Solid-Phase Uranium Mineralogy at a Former Uranium Pilot Mill (Grand Junction, Colorado)
Water quality in dynamic redox environments: Coupled hydrologic-biogeochemical controls on metal contaminant mobility
From grain to floodplain: Evaluating heterogeneity of floodplain hydrostratigraphy using sedimentology, geophysics, and remote sensing
From Grain to Floodplain: Evaluating heterogeneity of floodplain hydrostatigraphy using sedimentology, geophysics, and remote sensing.
Concentration-discharge behavior as an indication of groundwater contribution in Copper Creek sub-catchment of the Upper East River Basin
The Role of Alpine Wetlands as Hot Spots of Dissolved Organic Carbon in the East River, Colorado
Hydrologic and Biotic Effects of Grazing vs. Non-Grazing near Grand Junction, Colorado
Dataset (62) →
Surface Water Quality Data from Beaver-Impacted Streams; Trail Creek and East River, Colorado 2025
This data package contains surface water chemistry measurements collected in 2025 to evaluate how beaver damming and low-tech process-based stream res...
Kinetics Data of Iron(II), Manganese(II), Dissolved Organic Carbon and Nitrate from Batch Incubation Experiments Using Hyporheic Sediments from the East River Watershed, Colorado.
Hyporheic zones act as critical ecological links between terrestrial and aquatic systems where redox-sensitive metals of iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) ...
Kinetics Data of Iron(II), Manganese(II), Dissolved Organic Carbon and Nitrate from Batch Incubation Experiments Using Hyporheic Sediments from the East River Watershed, Colorado.
Hyporheic zones act as critical ecological links between terrestrial and aquatic systems where redox-sensitive metals of iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) ...
DWCZ - CO - Coal Creek - Soil Collection ICP - (DWCZ-MEF-CC-SoilSample-Transect-AWinkler) - (2022-2023)
Locations: Coal Creek, which serves as the drinking water source for the town of Crested Butte, CO, receives both acid mine and acid rock drainage as ...
Total metals, carbon, nitrogen & anion concentration data; Slate River & East River floodplains, Crested Butte, CO; May 2022-October 2022
This data package includes processed and undiluted measurements for metal, total carbon, total nitrogen, and anion concentrations from pore water (gro...
East River Surface and Pore Water FTICR-MS Data Associated with “Implications of sample treatment on characterization of the riverine environmental metabolome”
Surface and pore water samples were collected from distributed locations around Meander A in East River (Crested Butte, CO, USA) during the summer of ...
East River Surface and Pore Water FTICR-MS Data Associated with “Implications of sample treatment on characterization of the riverine environmental metabolome”
Surface and pore water samples were collected from distributed locations around Meander A in East River (Crested Butte, CO, USA) during the summer of ...
Hydraulic test data
Boreholes were drilled in 2017 and 2018 in Redwell Basin, a headwater catchment underlain by mineralized and hydrothermally altered sedimentary rock i...
East River Surface and Pore Water FTICR-MS Data Associated with “Implications of sample treatment on characterization of the riverine environmental metabolome”
Surface and pore water samples were collected from distributed locations around Meander A in East River (Crested Butte, CO, USA) during the summer of ...
Data for "Depth of nutrient uptake by deep-rooted plants is regulated by water availability"
The data set consists of strontium (Sr) isotope ratios (87Sr/86Sr), water isotopes, soil cation concentrations, soil water potential sensor data, and ...
Show 52 more datasets
East River Surface and Pore Water FTICR-MS Data Associated with “Implications of sample treatment on characterization of the riverine environmental metabolome”
Surface and pore water samples were collected from distributed locations around Meander A in East River (Crested Butte, CO, USA) during the summer of ...
Hydrologic monitoring data
Boreholes were drilled in 2017 and 2018 in Redwell Basin, a headwater catchment underlain by hydrothermally altered sedimentary rock in the Elk Mounta...
Waterlevel, geochemical, and borehole data from Rifle, Colorado from 2006-2016
The files included in this data package provide site wide water level data, geochemical data, and borehole information associated with the Rifle site ...
Waterlevel, geochemical, and borehole data from Rifle, Colorado from 2006-2016
The files included in this data package provide site wide water level data, geochemical data, and borehole information associated with the Rifle site ...
East River Surface and Pore Water FTICR-MS Data Associated with “Implications of sample treatment on characterization of the riverine environmental metabolome”
Surface and pore water samples were collected from distributed locations around Meander A in East River (Crested Butte, CO, USA) during the summer of ...
Total metal, carbon, anion, iron speciation, and sulfide concentrations; Slate River, East River, and Trail Creek surface water and floodplains, Crested Butte, CO; May 2023–August 2023
This data package comprises analytical results and metadata from stream and groundwater samples collected from the Slate River, East River, Trail Cree...
Total metal, carbon, anion, iron speciation, and sulfide concentrations; Slate River, East River, and Trail Creek surface water and floodplains, Crested Butte, CO; May 2023–August 2023
This data package comprises analytical results and metadata from stream and groundwater samples collected from the Slate River, East River, Trail Cree...
Total metal, carbon, anion, iron speciation, and sulfide concentrations; Slate River, East River, and Trail Creek surface water and floodplains, Crested Butte, CO; May 2023–August 2023
This data package comprises analytical results and metadata from stream and groundwater samples collected from the Slate River, East River, Trail Cree...
East River Surface and Pore Water FTICR-MS Data Associated with “Implications of sample treatment on characterization of the riverine environmental metabolome”
Surface and pore water samples were collected from distributed locations around Meander A in East River (Crested Butte, CO, USA) during the summer of ...
East River Surface and Pore Water FTICR-MS Data Associated with “Implications of sample treatment on characterization of the riverine environmental metabolome”
Surface and pore water samples were collected from distributed locations around Meander A in East River (Crested Butte, CO, USA) during the summer of ...
Aqueous geochemical dynamics of metals and rare earth elements in an acid rock drainage-impacted alpine watershed
Numerous mountain watersheds in the Colorado Mineral Belt (CMB) are impacted by acid rock drainage (ARD) and acid mine drainage (AMD), which mobilize ...
Aqueous geochemical dynamics of metals and rare earth elements in an acid rock drainage-impacted alpine watershed
Numerous mountain watersheds in the Colorado Mineral Belt (CMB) are impacted by acid rock drainage (ARD) and acid mine drainage (AMD), which mobilize ...
Aerobic respiration controls on shale weathering, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 2023: Dataset
This data package was generated in order to support the development of a deep-time weathering model and to assess the coupling between shale weatherin...
Aerobic respiration controls on shale weathering, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 2023: Dataset
This data package was generated in order to support the development of a deep-time weathering model and to assess the coupling between shale weatherin...
East River Surface and Pore Water FTICR-MS Data Associated with “Implications of sample treatment on characterization of the riverine environmental metabolome”
Surface and pore water samples were collected from distributed locations around Meander A in East River (Crested Butte, CO, USA) during the summer of ...
East River Surface and Pore Water FTICR-MS Data Associated with “Implications of sample treatment on characterization of the riverine environmental metabolome”
Surface and pore water samples were collected from distributed locations around Meander A in East River (Crested Butte, CO, USA) during the summer of ...
East River Surface and Pore Water FTICR-MS Data Associated with “Implications of sample treatment on characterization of the riverine environmental metabolome”
Surface and pore water samples were collected from distributed locations around Meander A in East River (Crested Butte, CO, USA) during the summer of ...
East River Surface and Pore Water FTICR-MS Data Associated with “Implications of sample treatment on characterization of the riverine environmental metabolome”
Surface and pore water samples were collected from distributed locations around Meander A in East River (Crested Butte, CO, USA) during the summer of ...
East River Surface and Pore Water FTICR-MS Data Associated with “Implications of sample treatment on characterization of the riverine environmental metabolome”
Surface and pore water samples were collected from distributed locations around Meander A in East River (Crested Butte, CO, USA) during the summer of ...
Total metal, carbon, anion, iron speciation, and sulfide concentrations; Slate River, East River, and Trail Creek surface water and floodplains, Crested Butte, CO; May 2023–August 2023
This data package comprises analytical results and metadata from stream and groundwater samples collected from the Slate River, East River, Trail Cree...
Water Level Data from Wells PLM1 and PLM6 for the East River Watershed, Colorado
This dataset (Williams et al., 2020) contains the original un-QA/QC-ed water level data for PLM1 and PLM6 and has been obsoleted. The data contained w...
WHONDRS Surface Water Dissolved Organic Carbon and FTICR-MS across Stream Orders in Four United States Watersheds in 2019 and 2020.
This dataset supports the broader Watershed Rules of Life (WROL) study examining spatial and temporal biogeochemical and microbial relationships acros...
Total metals, sulfur and organic carbon data; Slate River floodplain, Crested Butte, CO; March 2021-October 2021
This data package includes processed and undiluted measurements for metal, sulfur and organic carbon concentrations from pore water (groundwater) samp...
Water Level Data from Wells PLM1 and PLM6 for the East River Watershed, Colorado
This dataset (Williams et al., 2020) contains the original un-QA/QC-ed water level data for PLM1 and PLM6 and has been obsoleted. The data contained w...
Water Level Data from Wells PLM1 and PLM6 for the East River Watershed, Colorado
This dataset (Williams et al., 2020) contains the original un-QA/QC-ed water level data for PLM1 and PLM6 and has been obsoleted. The data contained w...
East River Surface and Pore Water FTICR-MS Data Associated with “Implications of sample treatment on characterization of the riverine environmental metabolome”
Surface and pore water samples were collected from distributed locations around Meander A in East River (Crested Butte, CO, USA) during the summer of ...
East River Surface and Pore Water FTICR-MS Data Associated with “Implications of sample treatment on characterization of the riverine environmental metabolome”
Surface and pore water samples were collected from distributed locations around Meander A in East River (Crested Butte, CO, USA) during the summer of ...
East River Surface and Pore Water FTICR-MS Data Associated with “Implications of sample treatment on characterization of the riverine environmental metabolome”
Surface and pore water samples were collected from distributed locations around Meander A in East River (Crested Butte, CO, USA) during the summer of ...
East River Surface and Pore Water FTICR-MS Data Associated with “Implications of sample treatment on characterization of the riverine environmental metabolome”
Surface and pore water samples were collected from distributed locations around Meander A in East River (Crested Butte, CO, USA) during the summer of ...
Water Level Data from Wells PLM1 and PLM6 for the East River Watershed, Colorado
This data set contains water level data for the PLM1 and PLM6 wells. PLM1 and PLM6 are location identifiers used by the Watershed Function SFA project...
Water Level Data from Wells PLM1 and PLM6 for the East River Watershed, Colorado
This data set contains water level data for the PLM1 and PLM6 wells. PLM1 and PLM6 are location identifiers used by the Watershed Function SFA project...
Aqueous geochemical dynamics of metals and rare earth elements in an acid rock drainage-impacted alpine watershed
Numerous mountain watersheds in the Colorado Mineral Belt (CMB) are impacted by acid rock drainage (ARD) and acid mine drainage (AMD), which mobilize ...
Natural abundance nitrate isotopes from Rifle and the East River Watershed, Colorado
This data package provides data on the natural abundance isotopes of nitrate from various sources, including porewater, stream, and precipitation. The...
Supplemental Data for "Using Fission-Track Radiography Coupled with Scanning Electron Microscopy for Efficient Identification of Solid-Phase Uranium Mineralogy at a Former Uranium Pilot Mill (Grand Junction, Colorado)"
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Upper Colorado River Basin: Monitoring sites and water chemistry data used to develop a specific conductance - salinity proxy model
Salinity levels in streams and tributaries of the Colorado River Basin have been a major concern for years. Recently, the United States Geological Sur...
Strontium isotopic data from the Mount Emmons-Redwell area, Crested Butte, Colorado
This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data release contains strontium isotopic data from water and rock samples collected between 2000 and 2019 from the ...
Natural abundance nitrate isotopes from Rifle and the East River Watershed, Colorado
This data package provides data on the natural abundance isotopes of nitrate from various sources, including porewater, stream, and precipitation. The...
Differential concentration discharge for the upper and lower reaches of the East River Watershed, Colorado
This dataset captures the difference in concentration over the difference in discharge across upper and lower reaches of the East River watershed for ...
Geospatial datasets of regolith thickness, bedrock altitude, depth to water, potentiometric-surface altitude, and saturated thickness for the shallow groundwater system in the Lower Gunnison River Basin, Delta, Montrose, Ouray, and Gunnison Counties, Colorado
Thirteen geospatial datasets were developed to characterize the shallow groundwater system in the Lower Gunnison River Basin, Colorado. These geospati...
Selected water-level data for the shallow aquifer system in the Lower Gunnison River Basin, Colorado
This point dataset contains water-level information concerning depth to water, potentiometric-surface altitude, and saturated thickness for the shallo...
WHONDRS Surface Water Sampling for Metabolite Biogeography (Geochemistry and Aligned FTICR-MS).
This dataset is from an ongoing global survey of surface water metabolites to provide understanding of the character of organic matter that may be del...
Aqueous geochemical dynamics of metals and rare earth elements in an acid rock drainage-impacted alpine watershed
Numerous mountain watersheds in the Colorado Mineral Belt (CMB) are impacted by acid rock drainage (ARD) and acid mine drainage (AMD), which mobilize ...
Water Level Data from Wells PLM1 and PLM6 for the East River Watershed, Colorado
This dataset (Williams et al., 2020) contains the original un-QA/QC-ed water level data for PLM1 and PLM6 and has been obsoleted. The data contained w...
The Importance of Interflow to Groundwater Recharge in a Snowmelt-Dominated, Alpine Watershed, Geophysical Research Letters: Modeling and Data Package
This data package contains hydrologic modeling input and output files for the East River (ER_PRMS.zip) and Copper Creek (CC_GSFLOW.zip) for water year...
Water Level Data from Wells PLM1 and PLM6 for the East River Watershed, Colorado
This dataset (Williams et al., 2020) contains the original un-QA/QC-ed water level data for PLM1 and PLM6 and has been obsoleted. The data contained w...
LAS Digital logs for the Mancos Shale, Candy Lane 1 (CL-1) Core in Montrose County, Colorado
The Candy Lane 1 (CL-1) core was acquired in November 2005 as part of a multidisciplinary effort by the U.S. Geological Survey, the Bureau of Land Man...
DWCZ - CO - Coal Creek - Soil Collection ICP - (DWCZ-MEF-CC-SoilSample-Transect-AWinkler) - (2022-2023)
Locations: Coal Creek, which serves as the drinking water source for the town of Crested Butte, CO, receives both acid mine and acid rock drainage as ...
Unoccupied Aerial System-mounted image velocimetry and Doppler velocity radar data for computation of river velocity and discharge collected at seven locations in Colorado in 2023: Discharge Measurements
This child item contains the raw acoustic Doppler velocity profiler (ADCP) measurements collected by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) hydrographers at ea...
Selected water-level data for the shallow aquifer system in the Lower Gunnison River Basin, Colorado
This point dataset contains water-level information concerning depth to water, potentiometric-surface altitude, and saturated thickness for the shallo...
Water Level Data from Wells PLM1 and PLM6 for the East River Watershed, Colorado
This data set contains water level data for the PLM1 and PLM6 wells. PLM1 and PLM6 are location identifiers used by the Watershed Function SFA project...
Per-Sample TPM with Annotations
Metatranscriptomic data generated from soil collected at the East River watershed, Crested Butte, CO. Normalized by TPM. Annotations included, and lab...