ABSTRACT
At a conference in 1985, shortly after selenium was identified as the cause of collapse of the warm-water fishery and of death and deformities among aquatic birds at California’s Kesterson Reservoir, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) geochem ist Ivan Barnes predicted where selenium problems would occur. Responding to a question from the audience, he said “If you want some generalizations, I ’ll give them to you. If there is a continental climate, with marine pyrite, and less than 20 inches (50.8 cm) of precipitation a year, there will be a selenium problem. If there is a Mediterranean climate with marine pyrite and less than 12 inches (30.5 cm) of precipitation a year, there will be a selenium problem” [emphasis his]. Although the events at Kesterson Reservoir were a surprise to the public and to government officials, Barnes’s (1985) response drew on nearly 50 years of selenium research in the western United States by university and govern ment scientists.
