Presentation Type
Poster
Start Date
5-8-2024 11:00 AM
End Date
5-8-2024 3:00 PM
Subjects
Atmospheric chemistry--Congresses
Advisor
Dr. Kelly Gleason
Student Level
Undergraduate
Abstract
Natural and anthropogenically sourced particulates are deposited from the atmosphere to landscapes via dry and wet deposition, making frozen winter snowpack a natural archive of atmospheric elemental composition. Wildfires in the Western United States are increasing in extent, duration, and severity, especially in alpine regions. Severe fires remove forest canopy and can impact how atmospheric elements are dispersed and stored across snow-dominated watersheds. We evaluated Al, V, Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, As, Zn, Se, Mo, Cd, and Pb concentrations in 394 winter snow core samples. We collected samples in 2019 and 2020 from a chronosequence of eight forests that burned with mixed severity from 2000 to 2018 in the Triple Divide region of Western Wyoming. We compared concentrations of significant elements Al, V, Mn, As, and Pb by fire and forest structure, and we classified them into three forest types: unburned forests, burned forests, and open meadows. Two fire scars south of Jackson Hole showed the highest average concentrations of all significant elements. Concentrations of Al, V, Mn, As, and Pb in unburned forests were at least double that of burned forests and open meadows (p < 0.05), likely due to the forest canopy and boundary layer turbulence effects.
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Multiscale Variability of Heavy Metals in a Western U.S. Snowpack
Natural and anthropogenically sourced particulates are deposited from the atmosphere to landscapes via dry and wet deposition, making frozen winter snowpack a natural archive of atmospheric elemental composition. Wildfires in the Western United States are increasing in extent, duration, and severity, especially in alpine regions. Severe fires remove forest canopy and can impact how atmospheric elements are dispersed and stored across snow-dominated watersheds. We evaluated Al, V, Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, As, Zn, Se, Mo, Cd, and Pb concentrations in 394 winter snow core samples. We collected samples in 2019 and 2020 from a chronosequence of eight forests that burned with mixed severity from 2000 to 2018 in the Triple Divide region of Western Wyoming. We compared concentrations of significant elements Al, V, Mn, As, and Pb by fire and forest structure, and we classified them into three forest types: unburned forests, burned forests, and open meadows. Two fire scars south of Jackson Hole showed the highest average concentrations of all significant elements. Concentrations of Al, V, Mn, As, and Pb in unburned forests were at least double that of burned forests and open meadows (p < 0.05), likely due to the forest canopy and boundary layer turbulence effects.