Dead Zone

Icebear

This is Douglas Falls on the North Fork of the Blackwater River in West Virginia. I took these on a crisp fall morning (last saturday.) Autumn comes early up here in the mountains, and most of the leaves had already fallen, but there was a dusting of snow to accentuate the evergreens. It looks like it would be a nice trout stream doesn't it? Sadly, there's not a living thing in it. It is literally a dead stream. See the pretty red rocks? Toxins. Heavy metals. The rocks are supposed to be green, like the ones you see outside the normal flow channel. This is the legacy of unregulated strip mining from the early twentieth century. They say our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will still be dealing with it.

Critique, opinions, and advice (technical and artistic) solicited and appreciated.

1.


2.


3.

squirl033

looks like a lot of oxides have leached into the rocks... what a shame. this looks like it would be such a pretty stream otherwise. that said, however, i've seen similar coloring in the rocks along the watercourse of streams in Mt. Rainier National Park, where there is not, and has never been, any form of mining or other exploitation of natural resources. the red color extends to the high water mark, so it's obviously from upstream, but there's no human activity up there that would account for it...