Bonneville basin critical zones: Spring chemistry and gastropod ecology in playa-margin wetlands
Playa margin wetlands in the Bonneville basin are sustained by groundwater-fed brackish springs, which transport salts and other solutes into the playa basin. These wetlands are sensitive to changing water availability and quality, which are impacted by changing climate and land use, and whose sediments also provide important records of changing environmental conditions. Gastropods building their shells in these springs provide important recorders of water chemistry and may reflect changing aqueous conditions. In this paper, we analyze spring water chemistry, gastropod ecology and gastropod shell chemistry of Blue Lake (BL) and Horseshoe Springs (HRS), two groundwater-fed wetlands in the Great Salt Lake watershed. Here, we report the physical parameters including pH, temperature, and specific conductivity across the spring pond at Horseshoe springs.