What makes a creek orange

The groundwater carries this soluble ferrous iron to places where the groundwater comes to the surface in a spring or a creek bottom, and there it serves up the ferrous iron to the iron-oxidizing bacteria waiting to feed on it. The iron-oxidizing bacteria combine the ferrous iron from the groundwater with oxygen from the atmosphere and the creek, and produce iron oxide or rust, which again is insoluble, and makes the orange gunk.

There are several species of iron-oxidizing bacteria, from genera including Sphaerotilus , Leptothrix. Thiobacillus , and Leptospirillum. The rainbow-colored, oily-looking sheen that often accompanies the bacteria is not oil, but is a biofilm produced by the bacteria. You can verify that it is not oil by touching it with a twig. If it were oil, the sheen would stick to the twig in an oily mess. But these biofilms, when touched with a twig, tend to break up into little plates and dissipate away from the twig.

Below are related topics about mining and water quality. Date published: November 13, Filter Total Items: 0. Year Select Year Apply Filter. Below are publications associated with mining and water quality. Year Published: Acid mine drainage Acid mine drainage AMD consists of metal-laden solutions produced by the oxidative dissolution of iron sulfide minerals exposed to air, moisture, and acidophilic microbes during the mining of coal and metal deposits.

Bigham, Jerry M. View Citation. Bigham, J. Below are multimedia items associated with mining and water quality. Filter Total Items: 1. List Grid. July 13, Listen to hear the answer. Below are frequently asked questions associated with mining and water quality.

How does mine drainage occur? Mine drainage is formed when pyrite an iron sulfide is exposed and reacts with air and water to form sulfuric acid and dissolved iron.

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Search for:. Tryon Creek Naturalist Notes. Nature Notes. And then the creeks turned orange: What's behind Anchorage creeks' periodic color changes?

By Lex Treinen. Published: Oct. Share on Facebook. Email This Link. Share on Twitter. Share on Pinterest. Share on LinkedIn. The Anchorage Waterways Council has been keeping track of orange water events in the Anchorage area since The Oct.

Iron eating bacteria form a slippery sheen on the bottom of a storm culvert feeding Chester Creek, a site of many orange creek events.