Dissolved trace metals in low-order, urban stream water, Columbus, Ohio

Abstract

Urban areas are thought to possess different geochemical characteristics than more natural regions due to large human population densities and intensified human activities that produce large quantities of waste products. In this work we have analyzed a number of urban streams in Columbus, Ohio, the 15th largest city in the U.S., for their dissolved trace metal concentrations. The three streams have subtle but measurably different land use patterns. Although, in general, the dissolved metal values observed are higher than global average river concentrations, there were no statistically different values between the streams. This suggests that urbanization may help to homogenize trace metal sources and fluxes, even on the small watershed scale, or that dissolved trace metals are not a variable that can be discriminated by land use subtype.