BRINE IMPACT ASSESSMENT IN THE TALLGRASS PRAIRIE
Alison Galatian*
University of Tulsa
42529 West 321st Street South
Depew, OK 74028
Voice: 918-381-4484
Fax: 918-631-2091
E-mail: alison-galatian@utulsa.edu
Dr. Bryan Tapp
Geosciences Department
University of Tulsa
Tulsa, OK
Research on brine contamination from brine scars was conducted in the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve. Project goals for the Tallgrass Prairie include locating brine contamination via stream sampling, modeling potential contamination plume movement and calculating runoff, and quantifying the amount of contamination caused by the brine scars and the effects of remediation over time. GIS was used to spatially represent data gathered in the field, as well as to identify brine scars from air photos, use Spatial Analyst to make new themes consisting of the brine scars for each watershed, calculate the area of the brine scars as well as the total area of the watershed and ponds, and delineate values from equations used to calculate runoff. Data suggest that the largest contributor to contamination in the Tallgrass Prairie is infiltration rather than surface runoff. Research was funded through the Tulsa Undergraduate Research Challenge.