Mineral Creek
September 8-17, 1999
Study Design & Sequence of Events Study Design
The objective of the study was to determine the principal sources of metals and acidity to Mineral Creek, a tributary of the Animas River. Due to the length of Mineral Creek, the study area was subdivided such that three synoptic studies were conducted:
- Synoptic #1. The first study was conducted on the lower portion of Mineral Creek, beginning just upstream from the South Fork of Mineral Creek and terminating at the Mineral Creek gaging station.
- Synoptic #2. The second study began near Chattanooga (upstream of Mill Creek) and extended downstream to the upstream end of Synoptic #1.
- Synoptic #3. The third study began near Red Mountain pass and extended downstream to Chattanooga.
Sequence of Events
September 8-10 Stream measurement and reconnaissance 12 Tracer injection for Synoptic #1 begins at 1821 hours 13 Water quality sampling for Synoptic #1 14 Tracer injection for Synoptic #2 begins at 1247 hours 15 Water quality sampling for Synoptic #2 16 Tracer injection for Synoptic #3 begins at 1530 hours 17 Water quality sampling for Synoptic #3
Photo Gallery
Site ID Distance Description
234 rbi 410 292 rbi 518 430 str 656 Transport site #1 for Synoptic #3 610 lbi 836 624 rbi 850 Inflow from diverted Mineral Creek 624 con Confluence of stream (R) and 624 inflow (L) 714 rbi 940 930 lbi 1156 Inflow draining Carbon Lakes mining area 1028 rbi 1254 1145 str 1371 Looking upstream toward 1145 site; Point source (Ford) 1220 str 1446 Waterfall; looking downstream from site 1550 str 1776 1555 rbi 1781 1605 str 1831 Transport site #2 for Synoptic #3 1715 rbi 1941 Inflow coming out of Silverledge Mine dump 1765 con Confluence of stream (R) and 1765 (Porphry G., L) 2105 str 2331 Waterfall 2110 lbi 2336 Big Horn Gulch 2180 rbi 2406 2447 lbi 2673 2614 lbi 2840 2859 lbi 3085 2860 rbi 3086 2968 str 3194 View of injection site for Synoptic #2 2969 rbi 3195 3214 con Confluence of stream (R) and 3214 (Mill Creek, L) 5108 str 5334 Transport site #2 for Synoptic #2 5120 lbi 5346 Browns Gulch 5120 con Confluence of stream (L) and 5120 (Browns G., R) 5265 rbi 5491 5654 lbi 5880 5657 rbi 5883 5709 lbi 5935 5864 rbi 6090 6024 lbi 6250 6024 +++ 6249 lbi 6475 6665 str 6891 Transport site #3 for Synoptic #2 6710 rbi 6936 Middle Fork of Mineral Creek 6710 +++ Al precipitates d.s. from Middle Fork confluence 6768 lbi 6994 6905 str 7131 6907 lbi 7133 6937 rbi 7163 7351 lbi 7577 7557 str 7783 7597 rbi 7823 Waterfall off Ferricrete 7900 rbi 8126 Battleship Slide 8262 lbi 8488 8524 lbi 8750 8524 lbi 8750 8872 lbi 9098 9372 str 9598 9962 str 10188 Transport site #1 for Synoptic #1 10447 con Confluence of stream (R) and South Fork (L) 10447 con Confluence of stream (R) and South Fork (L) 11167 lbi 11393 Zuni Gulch 11572 rbi 11798 11677 lbi 11903 12127 str 12353 Transport site #2 for Synoptic #1 12352 lbi 12578 12427 rbi 12653 Bear Creek 13607 lbi 13833 13757 lbi 13983 13757 lbi 13983 13831 rbi 14057 Belcher Creek 14049 rbi 14275 14049 rbi 14275 15210 str 15436 Mineral Creek gaging station Key
str - stream site rbi - right bank inflow lbi - left bank inflow con - confluence +++ - downstream from designated site Photos from Stream Reconnaissance
(in upstream to downstream order)
File Description
misc Near Red Mountain Pass misc2 Near Red Mountain Pass misc3 misc4 Waterfall (site 1220str) misc5 Waterfall (site 1220str) misc6 misc7 misc8 Above Silver Ledge Mine misc9 Trench at Silver Ledge Mine misc10 Headframe, Silver Ledge Mine misc11 Silver Ledge Mine dump misc12 misc13 misc14 Waterfall misc15 Top of waterfall misc16 Waterfall misc17 misc18 misc19 misc20 misc21 misc22 Inflow area misc23 Inflow area misc24 Inflow area misc25 misc26 Canyon misc27 Canyon misc28 Canyon misc29 misc30 misc31 6937 Right Bank Inflow misc32 misc33 7597rbi Waterfall off Ferricrete misc34 misc35 misc36 misc37 misc38 8524 Left Bank Inflow misc39 misc40 misc41 Recon Rest Break misc42 misc43 misc44
Results & Acknowledgments Results
Data analysis is incomplete at this time.
Acknowledgments
The Mineral Creek synoptic was done in cooperation with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. Field assistance was provided by Douglas Burkhardt, Ken Leib, Suzanne Paschke, Bruce Stover, Phil Verplanck, Anna Day, and members of the research team.
