First Advisor
Kelly Gleason
Date of Award
Spring 5-24-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Environmental Science and University Honors
Department
Environmental Science and Management
Language
English
Subjects
Heavy metals, atmospheric pollution, snow chemistry
DOI
10.15760/honors.1584
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. In the Western United States, wildfires are increasing in extent, duration, and severity. Severe fires remove forest canopy, impacting how atmospheric elements are dispersed and stored across snow-dominated watersheds. We evaluated concentrations of twelve elements in 397 winter snow core samples from a chronosequence of eight forests that burned with mixed severity from 2000 to 2018 in the Triple Divide region of Western Wyoming, the headwaters of the Columbia, Colorado, and Missouri Rivers. We detected the highest concentrations of Al, V, Cr As, and Pb in one fire scar south of Jackson Hole (p-values <0.05). We compared concentrations of all elements by forest structure classified into three forest types: unburned forests, burned forests, and open meadows. Concentrations of Al, Mn, Cr, Pb, V, and As in unburned forests were higher, and in some cases double that of burned forests and open meadows, (p-value < 0.05) likely due to forest canopy turbulence effects.
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/42190
Recommended Citation
Hefner, Kelsey, "Multi-Scale Variability of Heavy Metals in a Snowpack in the Triple Divide Region of the Western United States" (2024). University Honors Theses. Paper 1552.
https://doi.org/10.15760/honors.1584