Heatmap visualizations of arsenic, cadmium, and copper concentrations in streambed sediment in the Clark Fork River, Montana, 1996-2020

Long-term monitoring of stream-bed sediments reveals spatial and temporal trends in metal concentrations. Here we use concentration gradient “heat maps” as a visualization tool to report annual mean arsenic, cadmium and copper concentrations along a contamination gradient in the Clark Fork River (CFR) in Western Montana. The CFR has been heavily impacted by large-scale mining operations since the 19th century. Legacy mine waste and tailings have been deposited within the streambed, banks, and floodplains more than 200 kilometers downstream. Sieved sediment samples (<63µm) have been collected at 10 stations along a 200 kilometer contamination gradient annually since 1996. Ongoing remediation activities in the upper basin (60 Km) have [...]