HR: 1330h
AN: H32A-0504    [PDF]
TI: Soil Leachates and Contaminant Mobilization
AU: * Seelen, S
EM: fssjs3@uaf.edu
AF: Water and Environmental Research Center, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, 306 Tanana Drive Duckering Rm 525, Fairbanks, AK 99775-5900 United States
AU: White, D
EM: ffdmw@uaf.edu
AF: Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering/Water and Environmental Research Center, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, 306 Tanana Drive Duckering Rm 525, Fairbanks, AK 99775-5900 United States
AU: Yoshikawa, K
EM: ffky@uaf.edu
AF: Assistant Professor, Water and Environmental Research Center, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, 306 Tanana Drive Duckering Rm 525, Fairbanks, AK 99775-5900 United States
AU: Autier, V
EM: Vincent.Autier@ch2m.com
AF: Staff Engineer, CH2M Hill, 301 W. Northern Lights Blvd., Suite 601, Anchorage, AK 99503 United States
AB: In the past 30 years, the earth's northern climate has warmed appreciably. Mounting evidence suggests that climate warming is being amplified at the earth's polar regions. A warmer northern climate could lead to the gradual loss of circumpolar permafrost. Northern soils are estimated to contain 25-33% of the world's soil carbon, much of which is frozen in permafrost as poorly decomposed plant remains. Continued warming of the earth's climate would lead to the thawing of permafrost and the mobilization of organic matter. Dissolved organic matter in water can sorb contaminants, and may serve to mobilize them in surface and ground water. Understanding the origin of organic matter in water is important to our understanding of its chemistry and capacity to sorb and mobilize contaminants. Soil cores were collected from the Caribou Poker Creek Research Watershed (CPCRW) in July 2002. The soil cores were subjected to a laboratory leaching procedure. Soil leachates were analyzed by pyrolysis-gas chromatograph and mass spectrometry (py-GC/MS). This "molecular fingerprinting" analysis was used to help determine similarities and differences in organic matter leached from different areas in the watershed. As expected, preliminary results indicated that those cores with similar vegetation were more strongly correlated (r$>0.95$) than those with dissimilar vegetation. Among the strongest correlated were the samples collected from areas containing spruce trees. However, the presence of aspen trees at a site caused the leachate to be statistically different, even if spruce trees were present. The results from this research will allow us to determine key differences in soil leachate composition. We seek to use this information to better understand the infiltration areas that produce organic matter with the greatest potential to mobilize contaminants.
DE: 1600 GLOBAL CHANGE (New category)
DE: 1699 General or miscellaneous
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting