Water and Sediment Trace Metal Concentrations in South Umpqua Tributaries

Ten tributary sites in the South Umpqua River basin were sampled for inorganic constituents in water and streambed sediment. The dataset documents high concentrations of zinc, copper, and cadmium exceeding EPA aquatic life criteria, particularly in Middle Creek. It was collected by the CEOS_EXTRA organization in 1998.

Use Cases

• Analyze spatial patterns of zinc, copper, and cadmium concentrations across 10 sampling sites to identify pollution hotspots.
• Model the daily removal rate of zinc from the aqueous phase, such as the observed 0.3 pounds per day decrease in Middle Creek.
• Investigate correlations between trace metal levels in water samples and corresponding streambed-sediment samples to understand phase partitioning.
• Assess water quality by comparing measured metal concentrations against U.S. Environmental Protection Agency criterion continuous concentrations for aquatic life protection.

Strengths

• Data includes measurements from 10 distinct sampling sites, providing spatial coverage of the tributary network.
• Contains specific quantitative findings, such as a zinc load decrease of 0.3 pounds per day between two sites on Middle Creek.

Limitations

• Dataset is from a single sampling event in 1998, providing only a temporal snapshot with no time-series data.
• Sample size is limited to 10 sites, which may not be representative of the entire South Umpqua River basin.
• The raw data tables, column definitions, and exact measurement counts are not provided in the description.

Provenance

Source

CEOS_EXTRA, via NASA Earthdata.

Collection Method

Field sampling of water and streambed sediment at selected tributary sites.

Time Range

1998

Freshness

1998-09-01

Geography

Tributaries of the South Umpqua River, Oregon, USA, specifically the Middle Creek Basin.