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J.M. Morris

Publications and source records attributed to J.M. Morris.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2006

Light-mediated Zn uptake in photosynthetic biofilm

Our experiments conducted under controlled laboratory conditions demonstrate diel uptake and release of zinc (Zn) in lab-cultured biofilm exposed to Zn concentrations that are present in some mining-impacted streams (1–2 mg Zn/l). Specifically, at constant pH, temperature, and aqueous Zn concentrations in the exposure water, biofilm accumulated Zn during the light periods of the photocycle and released Zn during the dark periods of the photocycle. The range of Zn uptake measured in biofilm during one light period in these laboratory experiments (0.6–8.3 mg Zn/g dw biofilm) encompassed the estimated Zn uptake (1.5–3.7 mg Zn/g dw biofilm) necessary to attribute aqueous diel Zn cycling in a mining-impacted stream in Montana (High Ore Creek) to uptake in biofilm. This is relevant to in situ studies of diel Zn cycling because we controlled three important parameters that naturally fluctuate daily in the field, thus demonstrating the potential for biofilm to remove large percentages of Zn from some mining-impacted streams. Researchers, modelers, regulators, and reclamation teams working in metals-contaminated streams should be aware of diel metal cycling, because the highest Zn concentrations (and therefore, perhaps the most toxic conditions) in the water column might occur at night, and the greatest exposure of grazers of phototrophs to dietborne Zn might occur during daylight hours.

Hydrobiologia↗
USGS2005

Leachability of protein and metals incorporated into aquatic invertebrates: are species and metals-exposure history important?

To partially simulate conditions in fish intestinal tracts, we leached six groups of metals-contaminated invertebrates at pH 2 and pH 7, and analyzed the concentrations of four metals (Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn) and total protein in the leachates. Four of the groups of invertebrates were benthic macroinvertebrates collected from metals-contaminated rivers (the Clark Fork River in Montana and the Coeur d’Alene River in Idaho, USA); the other two groups of invertebrates (one of which was exposed to metals in the laboratory) were laboratory-reared brine shrimp ( Artemia sp.). Additionally, we fractionated the pH 2 leachates using size-exclusion chromatography (SEC). Protein content was 1.3 to 1.4× higher in Artemia than in the benthic macroinvertebrates, and leachability of metals and protein differed considerably among several of the groups of invertebrates. In SEC fractions of the pH 2 leachates from both groups of Artemia , Cu and protein co-eluted; however, Cu and protein did not co-elute in SEC fractions of the leachates from any of the benthic macroinvertebrate groups. Although none of the other three metals co-eluted with protein in any of the pH 2 leachates, one or more of the metals co-eluted with lower-molecular-weight molecules in the leachates from all of the groups of invertebrates. These results suggest fundamental differences in metal-binding properties and protein leachability among some invertebrates. Thus, different invertebrates and different histories of metals exposure might lead to different availability of metals and protein to predators.

Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxico↗
USGS2005

Does biofilm contribute to diel cycling of Zn in High Ore Creek, Montana?

Concentrations of metals cycle daily in the water column of some mining-impacted streams in the Rocky Mountains of the western USA. We hypothesized that biofilm in High Ore Creek, Montana, USA, sorbs and releases Zn on a diel cycle, and this uptake-and-release cycle controls the total and dissolved (0.45-μm filtered) Zn concentrations. We collected water samples from three sites (upstream, middle and downstream at 0, 350 and 650 m, respectively) along a 650-m reach of High Ore Creek during a 47-h period in August 2002 and from the upstream and downstream sites during a 24-h period in August 2003; we also collected biofilm samples at these sites. In 2002 and 2003, total and dissolved Zn concentrations did not exhibit a diel cycle at the upstream sampling site, which was ~30 m downstream from a settling pond through which the creek flows. However, total and dissolved Zn concentrations exhibited a diel cycle at the middle and downstream sampling sites, with the highest Zn concentrations occurring at dawn and the lowest Zn concentrations occurring during late afternoon (>2-fold range of concentrations at the downstream site). Based on (1) concentrations of Zn in biofilm at the three sites and (2) results of streamside experiments that demonstrated Zn uptake and release by naïve biofilm during the light and dark hours of a photocycle, respectively, we conclude that Zn uptake in photosynthetic biofilms could contribute a large percentage to the cycling of Zn concentrations in the water column in High Ore Creek.

Montana↗