Colin Belby

Bio: I am a geomorphologist whose primary interests include understanding environmental change in river systems through the study of sediment archives. In recent years my research has expanded to mapping contaminated lands and aquatic habitats. I am experienced in the use of ArcGIS and a wide array of field survey equipment including total stations, differential GPS units, differential levels, terrestrial lidar, acoustic doppler current profilers, echosounders, and X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF). I currently teach courses in Earth Environments, Landforms and Processes, Fluvial Geomorphology, Geographic Field Methods, Environmental Hazards, and Water Resources.

Mapping the Spatial Distribution of Lead in the La Crosse River Marsh

The La Crosse River Marsh (LRM) is the former site of the La Crosse Gun Club, which discharged a significant quantity of lead shot into the LRM during trap-shooting activities between 1929-1963. Due to limited information on the legacy effects of trap shooting in the LRM, we sought to 1) quantify and map the spatial distribution of lead in the sediments, and 2) determine whether lead is mobilizing away from the buried shot. Georeferenced sediment cores and surficial sediment samples were collected throughout the potential shot fall zone, analyzed via X-ray imaging and X-ray fluorescence, and results were interpolated to create a three-dimensional model of lead shot density and sediment concentration across the study area.

lead, X-ray fluorescence, shooting range, wetlands