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The levels and composition of particulate matter in Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) that hosts the only population of the endangered Devil's Hole pupfish ( Cyprinodon diabolis) were examined to obtain baseline air quality information. PM and PM mass concentrations were measured using continuous monitors over a period of 12 months. In addition, integrated PM and PM filter samples were collected and a subset chemically analyzed for elements, ions, elemental carbon, and organic carbon. The average filter-based PM (10.9 μg m) and PM (5.1 μg m) levels at Ash Meadows NWR are similar to those previously measured at rural and continental background sites in the southwestern USA. Mineral dust accounted for the largest percentage of aerosol mass, with the highest concentrations being measured during fall months of 2009. Elemental and organic carbon levels were generally low, except for August 29, 2009. During this event, transport of wildfire smoke was suggested, by the passage of air masses over wildfires in California, Utah, and Arizona. Ammonium sulfate varied with season, with the highest concentrations in spring and the lowest in fall and winter. Halite (NaCl) quantities were very low, except for the filter samples collected during a windy period on October 4, 2009 indicating the possible contribution of alkaline playa dust upwind of the site. Above average concentrations of crustal calcium compounds, including carbonates and gypsum, were measured in the PM sample collected on November 9, 2009 as well as the two preceding months, ascribed to wind-driven dusty conditions prevailing throughout the late summer and fall of 2009. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Steamboat Creek, Washoe County, Nevada, is considered the most polluted tributary of the Truckee River, therefore the reduction of nutrients from the creek is an important factor in reducing eutrophication in the lower Truckee River. Restoration of the wetlands along the creek has been proposed as one method to improve water quality by reducing nutrient and sediments from non-point sources. This study was aimed to design a simulation model wetlands water quality model (WWQM) that evaluates nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediments retention from a constructed wetland system. WWQM is divided into four submodels: hydrological, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment. WWQM is virtual Visual Basic 6.0 program that calculates hydrologic parameters, nutrients, and sediments based on available data, simple assumptions, knowledge of the wetland system, and literature data. WWQM calibration and performance was evaluated using data sets obtained from the pilot-scale constructed wetland over a period of four and half years. The pilot-scale wetland was constructed to quantify the ability of the proposed wetland system for nutrient and sediment removal. WWQM simulates nutrient and sediments retention reasonably well and agrees with the observed values from the pilot-scale wetland system. The model predicts that wetlands along the creek will remove nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediments by 62, 38, and 84 %, respectively, which would help to reduce eutrophication in the lower Truckee River. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies have shown that Steamboat Creek in Nevada is highly contaminated with mercury, with aqueous mercury concentrations more than two orders of magnitude greater than nearby mountain streams. One objective of this study was to determine if the new Spreadsheet-based Ecological Risk Assessment for the Fate of Mercury (SERAFM) model could be calibrated to the concentrations of unfiltered and dissolved total mercury, and unfiltered and dissolved MeHg in the water column for a reach on SBC and a related constructed wetland mesocosm for different seasons and residence times. SERAFM is a new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency steady state, single segment, mass balance mercury model that has been applied to lakes, and this study also examined the model’s applicability for modeling an arid flowing water environment in different seasons. The average combined error between observed and model-estimated mercury concentrations was 12% and 17% for the reach and mesocosm, respectively. Some recommendations are proposed that may allow SERAFM to better model flowing systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date there have only been a few studies that measured mercury emissions from background substrate worldwide, and only a small amount of mercury flux data, from background substrate, exists for the Western United States. Because of this, the database of mercury emissions from background units < 0.1 mg kg-1 mercury) is incomplete. This study focused on the collection of in-situ mercury flux data from representative lithologic units in Nevada. Measured mercury fluxes from substrate with background mercury concentration throughout Nevada were low (mean 2.0 ± 4.1 ng m-2 hr-1), and ranged from –3.7 to 9.3 ng m-2 hr-1. The mean measured mercury flux is slightly higher than those measured from background substrate from various locations throughout the world. The mean mercury flux from in-situ mercury measurements from substrate located near altered geologic units across Nevada was 15.5 ± 24.2 ng m-2 hr-1. These mercury fluxes are higher than the values applied in published global models for naturally enriched geologic units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lahontan Reservoir in western Nevada has among the highest mercury (Hg) concentrations recorded in water, sediments and biota. The QWASI fugacity/aquivalence multispecies model was applied to examine Hg dynamics through a steady-state analysis of high loading conditions. The analysis indicated that the Carson River supplies most Hg in the water and upper sediments, with minimal inputs from the atmosphere and the Truckee Canal. Model estimates suggest that more than 90% of Hg entering the system from the Carson River at high flow is retained in the sediment of the reservoir, with export removing the remainder. Losses due to volatilization are negligible. The amount of methylmercury (MeHg) in the reservoir can be accounted for by inputs from the Carson River with minimal methylation occurring in the reservoir. The lack of species conversion and high retention rate appear to be due to the unreactive mineralogy of particulate Hg. Thus, we suggest that Hg dynamics are similar to that of other highly particle-reactive metals where fate is determined by particle movement. Finally, model results suggest an additional source of Hg to the system, which we hypothesize is from deep contaminated sediment that enters the system through sediment mixing caused by seasonal wet and dry cycles and sediment resuspension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]