Thesis
Natural tungsten in Washington's surface waters: controls and modeling
Washington State University
Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
2019
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/101391
Abstract
At high concentrations, tungsten can be toxic to humans, animals, and the environment, yet little is known about natural tungsten in surface waters. In order to improve our understanding of the distribution, controls, and concentration of natural tungsten in surface waters, we conducted a synoptic sampling effort of primary streams in 20 different watersheds in the US Pacific Northwest (Washington State) resulting in 77 distinct samples. We found that tungsten concentrations spanned two orders or magnitude from 10.3 ng L-1 to 2.05 µg L-1 , which are still considered low considering standards set by the Soviet Union--the only country so far to set a limit for tungsten in drinking water. While tungsten-bearing underlying rock types correlated with the presence of tungsten in the water and in collected sediments, the concentrations measured in the surface water samples had no correlation with the concentration of tungsten in the sediments, nor any correlation with pH. To predict water tungsten concentrations, we used the concentrations of other dissolved elements in the water samples from which we were able to derive a model using Be and Cu which explains 65% of the variance in the collected data. Using this Be-Cu model and applying it to other existing data, we were able to predict the concentration of tungsten at different freshwater sites across the Pacific Northwest.
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Details
- Title
- Natural tungsten in Washington's surface waters
- Creators
- Philip James Steenstra
- Contributors
- Nikolay Strigul (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Environment, School of the (CAHNRS)
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; [Pullman, Washington] :
- Identifiers
- 99900525074401842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis