Composition of Water and Suspended Sediments in Streams of Urbanized Subtropical Watersheds in Hawaii

• Published in: Applied geochemistry Vol. 19; no. 7; p. 1011
• Main Authors: De Carlo, Eric H, Beltran, Vincent L, Tomlinson, Michael S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01-07-2004
• ISSN: 0883-2927

On-going urbanization of the small subtropical island of Oahu, Hawaii, allowed researchers to evaluate how widespread anthropogenic activity influences the composition of material transferred from land to ocean by streams. Data are reported from an assessment of the variability of trace elements (namely Pb, Zn, Cu, Ba, Co, As, Ni, V, and Cr) in streams of watersheds on the island. Special emphasis was placed on water and suspended particulate matter collected from the Ala Wai Canal watershed in Honolulu and the Kaneohe Stream watershed. Findings indicated that suspended particulate matter acts to control the majority of trace element transport. Urbanized sections of the watersheds exhibited increased concentrations of Pb, Zn, Cu, Ba, and Co. Nonpoint source contributions to pollutant loads are examined.