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- 10 - NATURAL SILVER CONCENTRATIONS IN THE MEDICINE BOW MOUNTAINS Paul Singleton and Randall White - ...... - ~ The natural si Iver .concentrations in soi 1, fol iage, and litter were studied in 1972. and 1973. The objective of this effort was to determine natural concentrat~ons of potentially toxic Ag in the environ- . . ment, so that at some future time it would be possible to determine . . . . . if cloud seeding with Agl had resulted in a significant increase of Ag. Twenty sites were located to give a fairly even geographic' representation of the proposed target area (Fig. 2). With one except- ion (site 20), the sit~swere chosen where communities of aspen, lodgepole pine, Eng~lmarin spruce, and grass vegetation could be found in close proximity. Each site was sampled at3 different times spring and fall 1972 and spring 1973. Samples of soi 1, fol iage, and litter were collected from all tree communities, and soil and foliage were coHected from grass . . . communities. Five tr~es from each forest community at each site were selected for sampling. Fol iage collected from the five trees was. combined into a compo~ite sample to represent that community at that site. Soil and litter'were also collected from under the same five trees and combined Into composite soil and composite litter samples. Fol iage and soi 1 were collected from a circular area of four meters in - - - - .. ~ - - diameter at each grass community. contami nat i on. Tree fol iage was sampled by breaking 'small branches from the five trees at each site. Grass vegetation was pulled from the plant in preference to c1ipping'to eliminate. the possibility of contamination by clippers. Litter was sampled from under the appropriate tree species by simply collecting the litter in a manner which g~ve~ representative sample from under each of five trees of each species at Plastic gloves were worn to prevent - - j 0;:; _. -' -