Animas Test Kitchen
Communicating Science about the Gold King Mine Spill and Water Quality in the Animas River
How have geological, biological and human factors created and exacerbated acid mine drainage and water quality issues in the Animas River?
What ecological and human health threats might be associated with the Gold King Mine spill: initially, currently and in the future?
What actions can be taken to improve the water quality in Cement Creek and the Animas River watershed?
What is the role of science in making policy decisions?
What ecological and human health threats might be associated with the Gold King Mine spill: initially, currently and in the future?
What actions can be taken to improve the water quality in Cement Creek and the Animas River watershed?
What is the role of science in making policy decisions?
Project Reflection
What is the role of science in making policy decisions?
What is the In today’s society, science plays a very large role in making policy decisions. For example, Silverton announced they would be seeking the Superfund designation after the spill from the Gold King Mine, which would not have happened if not for science research and data collecting. Science can show a measurable amount when it comes to the pros and cons of an event or the decision making process. Science also plays a large role in the government. The United States has begun to consider using more environmentally friendly means of getting power rather than relying on fossil fuels ever since climate change has been discovered a threat to the world.
What actions can be taken to improve the water quality in Cement Creek and the Animas River watershed?
The Gold King Mine released 3 million plus gallons of toxic water into the Animas river Watershed drew attention to the ever polluted Mineral and Cement creek. This pollution does not have to be permanent, actions can be taken to improve the water quality as well as prevent disasters like this from happening again by doing this such as Superfund designation. Silverton recently began seeking Superfund designation in order to clean up the river sound the Silverton area, as well as preventing the toxic water in Cement and Mineral creek from spreading into other towns such as Durango. The Superfund designation is the most realistic and environmentally beneficial to Silverton and the surrounding areas.
To what degree do scientists have an obligation to communicate scientific concepts and data to the public in an understandable manner?
Scientists have a very strong obligation to communicate scientific concepts in an understandable way in order to inform member of society that don't have expertise in the issue at hand. In the situation of the Gold King Mine spill into the Animas River, there was a lot of misinformation regarding how safe the river was to swim in and drink out of. Members of the medical community are morally obligated to share new findings of health risks with the public just as scientists are.It's important that all people involved with a problem are well informed and know what is safe to do and what is not. I think the most important thing scientists can do is share their findings to the world because it not only does it benefit themselves through recognition and endorsement, but the world as well.
How has your understanding of scientific knowledge and/or the process of doing science changed throughout the semester as you've examined and manipulated data collected by professional scientists and performed analogous experiments to collect and analyze your own data?
My understanding of scientific knowledge through examining data has changed because I have realized that not all data is the same, and it can be interpreted in different ways. A large impact on the way we look at data is controlled by the type and accuracy of the instrument that is chosen. Data can also be interpreted in different ways. For example, a high concentration in lead could be taken as extremely dangerous, but in reality, a person would have to consume an unthinkable amount of the toxic water for he or she to even be affected by it.
What is the In today’s society, science plays a very large role in making policy decisions. For example, Silverton announced they would be seeking the Superfund designation after the spill from the Gold King Mine, which would not have happened if not for science research and data collecting. Science can show a measurable amount when it comes to the pros and cons of an event or the decision making process. Science also plays a large role in the government. The United States has begun to consider using more environmentally friendly means of getting power rather than relying on fossil fuels ever since climate change has been discovered a threat to the world.
What actions can be taken to improve the water quality in Cement Creek and the Animas River watershed?
The Gold King Mine released 3 million plus gallons of toxic water into the Animas river Watershed drew attention to the ever polluted Mineral and Cement creek. This pollution does not have to be permanent, actions can be taken to improve the water quality as well as prevent disasters like this from happening again by doing this such as Superfund designation. Silverton recently began seeking Superfund designation in order to clean up the river sound the Silverton area, as well as preventing the toxic water in Cement and Mineral creek from spreading into other towns such as Durango. The Superfund designation is the most realistic and environmentally beneficial to Silverton and the surrounding areas.
To what degree do scientists have an obligation to communicate scientific concepts and data to the public in an understandable manner?
Scientists have a very strong obligation to communicate scientific concepts in an understandable way in order to inform member of society that don't have expertise in the issue at hand. In the situation of the Gold King Mine spill into the Animas River, there was a lot of misinformation regarding how safe the river was to swim in and drink out of. Members of the medical community are morally obligated to share new findings of health risks with the public just as scientists are.It's important that all people involved with a problem are well informed and know what is safe to do and what is not. I think the most important thing scientists can do is share their findings to the world because it not only does it benefit themselves through recognition and endorsement, but the world as well.
How has your understanding of scientific knowledge and/or the process of doing science changed throughout the semester as you've examined and manipulated data collected by professional scientists and performed analogous experiments to collect and analyze your own data?
My understanding of scientific knowledge through examining data has changed because I have realized that not all data is the same, and it can be interpreted in different ways. A large impact on the way we look at data is controlled by the type and accuracy of the instrument that is chosen. Data can also be interpreted in different ways. For example, a high concentration in lead could be taken as extremely dangerous, but in reality, a person would have to consume an unthinkable amount of the toxic water for he or she to even be affected by it.
Spectroscopic Investigation of What Metals are in the Animas River Watershed
Introduction:
The goal of this lab was to find what ions of heavy metals are present in various locations of the Animas River after the spill from the Gold King Mine. Using a spectrophotometer, emission lines were recorded based on the color of the different flames to find if the heavy metal being tested was present in the Animas River after the spill.
Spectroscopy is the interaction of matter with electromagnetic radiation. Spectroscopy is measured through is wavelengths, or frequency. Based on its frequency, the colors change from most energy to least energy, violet having the most energy, red having the least energy. Frequencies can have more or less energy than red and violet, but isn’t visible to the human eye.
The Bohr model of an atom is a model that represents the nucleus at the center, with the electrons curling around it on different orbits. As the electrons orbit around the nucleus, light particles called Photons transfer energy to the electrons causing them to shoot an outer orbit. When looking at plasma through a spectroscope, when a photon collides with a higher energy electron, the emission lines show up more intense and brighter. Comparing The Bohr Model of the Atom with the Quantum Mechanical Model of the Atom, the nucleus still appears centered in the atom, but the electrons don't move in fixed orbits, instead, they move around the nucleus based off of mathematical probability of the movement. The quantum mechanical model serves as a better representation of what happens in the atom in reality than the Bohr model.
A Spectrophotometer is used to read wavelengths and frequency of light, and show it on a computer. Many times, spectrophotometers are used to identify unknown substances based on the intensity of a certain color on a scale. When comparing two substances using a Spectrophotometer, they are compared on the scale by looking at the peaks in the wavelengths to see if they hold any resemblance, if they do, they could identified as the same substance. Each element gives off its own unique emissions lines, by comparing the given substance, it can be matched with that particular element.
In order to emit spectral lines, the element must be a plasma. This is because the electrons within the element are moving must faster than if it was in a liquid or a gas form. Because the electrons are moving at such a fast and constant rate, they can give off a constant amount of light to give off emission lines.
An ICP-AES (Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy) is a method of measuring very small amount trace amounts of metals in substances. This process happens through vaporizing liquid material and transforming them into a measurable amount of plasma. The ICP-AES measures a particular emission line that is unique to that certain element and finds and records the amount of metal ions in the that emission line. To ensure that the results are more accurate, the ICP-AES is calibrated using a control with no ions in it to compare it with a substance being tested that has ions in it.
Results Part 1:
Each of the results below were recorded using melamine foam attached to a wire-stick with each of the following substances soaked into the foam. The foam was then held over an open flame under the fume hood.
Discussion Part 1:
The substance present in unknown #6 was concluded to be Lithium Chloride, or LiCl. This was concluded by comparing the unknown substances color when held over to other substances colors. The unknown substance and LiCl were the only two substances that changed to flames color to pink and purple, so it can be concluded that they are the same element. The likelihood of these two substances being the same is very likely, so the confidence is very high. Our group could not make a confident claim for unknown #4. When held over the flame, the color of the sam changed from solid blue to orange. There were two other substances that shared the same orange color when held over the flame: CaCl2 and NaCl. Because there are two substances that it is possible of being instead of one, there is much uncertainty of which one it is in actuality.
The metal that is present in the solution determines what color the flame is when held over the burner. When the color of the flame was recorded, it was discovered that each individual metal had a different color. When there was no metal ion present in the substance being tested, the color of the flame would stay the same.
The control in this experiment was the melamine foam without any of the substances on it. Holding the foam over the burner without any other substances on it results in the foam burning up, and the flame turning from blue to orange.
The results taken from the Animas River show that no metal ions are present in the water. When the foam with the Animas River water was held over the burner, the flame color turned orange just like the control test did. This presents the conclusion that there were no metal ions in the water because it burned the same color as the control test with no substances did.
Results Part 2:
The following images are screenshots of the results recorded of each substance suing a spectrophotometer. The scale is an interpretation of what was seen through the spectrophotometer.
NaCl
Height of Peak:
Yellow Peak at 591.1
LiCl
Height of Peak:
Red Peak at 672.6
Yellow Peak at 590.3
SrCl2
Height of Peak:
Red Peak at 671.1
Red Peak at 683.9
Red Peak at 770.0
Yellow Peak at 621.3
Yellow Peak 587.7
Unknown Substance #6
Peak Height:
Red Peak at 770.0
Water Sample #23
No Peak
KCI
Peak height:
Red Peak at
774.0
Discussion Part 2:
Using a spectrophotometer, to find one metal in the presence of another, you look for separate peaks in different colors on the spectrum. Each different metal emits a different wavelength and frequency, so when you have two separate metals there would be two different peaks in the colors that they present. For example, if there was NaCl int he presence of LiCl, you would see that there is a large peak in the yellow part of the spectrum emitted from NaCl, and another large peak in the red end of the spectrum emitted from LiCl.
There were two metals that are perceived to be present in the unknown substances: SrCl2 and KCI. Both of these metals gave off similar colors and peak heights. The unknown substance was held over the burner and gave off an orange flame and had a single peak in the red end of the spectrum at 770.0. When SrCl2 was held over the burner, the flame color turned red, orange, and pink and had one peak in the red part of the spectrum that measured 770.0. KCI also had a pink flame, but it had white in addition to the pink. It also had one peak in the red part of the spectrum at 774.0. It is extremely likely that SrCl2 is present in the unknown because it had the same peak height, while it is less likely that KCI would be present because it had a dominantly pink flame instead of an orange flame.
The intensity vs wavelength graph relates to the emission lines because depending on how strong the color is, it controls how high the peak is or how bright the emission lights are. If the color is bright from a certain substance, the emission lines in a spectroscope will be much brighter for the more intense color. In the intensity vs wavelength graph, the peaks for the substance will be higher depending on the intensity of the color.
It was concluded that there were no metals found in water sample #23. The spectrophotometer did not present any peaks on the intensity vs wavelength graph. If there were a peak in a certain area or color of the graph, it would show that there is a metal present in the water. This was an unexpected result because metals such as iron, zinc, and lead were expected to show up in the water.
Results Part 3:
The images below are the results of looking at unknown plasmas using a spectroscope, and recording the spectral emission lines and their color. Discussion Part 3:
Pre-lab studies and the emitted wavelengths helped to conclude the above images were: Hydrogen, Helium, and Mercury. Helium emits lines of violet, blue, yellow, orange, and red, so it was conceded that unknown F was Helium because the colors violet, blue-green, and yellow-orange were seen on the emission scale in the spectrometer. It was found that Hydrogen was present in unknown D because the plasma that was looked at through the spectrometer emitted violet, blue-green, and red colors on the emission scale. Similarly, Hydrogen is known to emit violet, blue-violet, yellow-orange, and red, so it can be confidently stated that unknown D is hydrogen. Finally, unknown E was concluded to be the Mercury because it gives off emission lines of blue, green, yellow, orange, and red, and the plasma studied in the lab emitted gave emission lines of violet, blue, green, yellow-orange, and red.
Assuming the viewer is using a modern spectroscope, looking at an element through a spectroscope may not always be showing the viewer the full emission lines for a variety of reasons. Much of this is due to too much light, or lack thereof. If the light is too bright for example, the viewer may not be able to see all of the emission lines. Contrasty, if the light is too dim, the viewer would not be able to see the full spectrum of emission lines.
When observing emission lines of an element using a spectroscope, some lines appear as more dim or more bright compared to the rest. This is because the different wavelengths have different intensities based on the particular element that you are observing. In an atom, when a photon collides with a higher energy electron, the electron shoots further into an outer orbit, causing a brighter, more intense wavelength, resulting in a brighter emission line.