Chemical Analysis Of Coal Creek

One of the major characteristics of Coal Creek is its lack of vertebrate life. In aquatic environments, a deficiency in biomass can be due to chemical factors or biotic factors. Chemical analysis of the drainage basin have been studied since 2012, but the chemical composition was found to be compatible with life. Previous data gathered from personal communication with Kim Weaver Ph.D revealed that an experiment conducted by Scott Potter showed elevated aluminum concentrations within Coal Creek. Further analysis conducted by Anthony London revealed that chlorophyll samples collected from the creek fluoresced in the yellow spectrum. The overall data collected from Coal Creek has the capacity to select for certain life forms rather than eliminate vertebrate life.
Upon merging, an unknown golden microbial growth that was previously identified as a type of golden algae is present (Figure 1). However, isolation and examination of the golden microbe determined it to be a type of semi-photosynthetic bacterial growth that fluoresced in the yellow spectrum. Furthermore, it exhibited immense growth which creates a biotic competition factor that may contribute to the lack of biomass. The goal of my experiment is to identify the bacteria then determine the effect it has on aquatic vertebrate