Central Mineral Resources Team
Project status is complete. Please check the CMRT project list for currently active projects.
Backgrounds and Baselines
A geochemical base of information is required to define the natural abundance and spatial distribution of chemical elements in the Earth's surface and subsurface environment to which changes caused by human activities (for example, urbanization, agriculture, mining, waste disposal and industrial pollution) or natural processes (for example, volcanic eruptions, floods, hurricanes, and dust storms) can be compared. This project seeks to develop this information base through studies ranging in scale from site-specific to regional and national. The resulting databases and interpretive products (including geochemical maps) can be used by Federal, State, and local land management and environmental protection agencies to determine predevelopment geochemical backgrounds and current geochemical baselines for various sample media both at the surface (soils, stream sediment, and water)and in the subsurface (water and rocks). The information can also be used to detect and measure the magnitude of change in the chemistry of these materials caused by anthropogenic or natural processes. The preparation of these multi-element, multi-media geochemical baselines and their representation as geochemical maps is an essential first step for assessing and monitoring the state of the Earth's land surface.
Products
Products are listed according to task:
Tasks |
Title |
Task 1 |
Baseline Characterization and Monitoring of Minerals-Related Mitigation Sites and Undeveloped Mineral Deposits |
Task 2 |
Leadership in IUGS/IAGC Working Group on Global Geochemical Baselines |
Task 3 |
Three Dimensional Backgrounds and Baselines |
Task 4 |
Environmental Behavior of Mineral Deposits in Alaska's National Parks |
Task 5 |
Regional Geoscience Baseline Studies of the Fortymile and Goodpasture River Watershed, Alaska |
Task 6 |
Sources and Cycling of Hg in Lakes and Reservoirs in the Central Region, USA |
Task 7 |
Environmental Geochemistry in Joshua Tree National Park (JTNP), California |
Task 1 - Baseline Characterization and Monitoring of Minerals-Related Mitigation Sites and Undeveloped Mineral Deposits
- Stanton, M., Grimes, D., Sanzolone, R., and Sutley, S., 1997, Geochemical
studies of arsenic in drill core and groundwater samples from the
Alburquerque Basin, New Mexico, U.S. Geological Survey Middle Rio Grande
Basin Study—Proceedings of the First Annual Workshop, Denver, CO, Nov.
12-14, 1996, J.R. Bartolino, editor: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report
97-116.
- Miller, W.R., Smith, D.B., Meier, A.L., Theodorakos, P.H., Sanzolone, R.F.,
and Vaughn, R.B., 1998, Geochemical baselines for surface water and stream
sediments and processes controlling element mobility, Rough and Ready Creek
and Oregon Caves National Monument and vicinity, southwestern Oregon: U.S.
Geological Survey Open-File Report 98-201, 29 p.
- Nagorski, S.A., Shifflett, J.A., Moore, J.N, Smith, D.B., 1998, Geochemical
Baseline Studies and Relations Between Water Quality and Streamflow in the
Upper Blackfoot River Watershed, Montana: Progress Report for July 1997 -
March 1998: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 98-499, 133 p.
- Stanton, M.R., Sanzolone, R.F., Grimes, D.J., and Sutley, S.J., 1998, Preliminary
geochemical data from Sante Fe Group sediments in the 98th St. drill core
near Albuquerque, NM: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 98-230, 59 p.
- Stanton, M.R., Grimes, D.J., Sanzolone, R.F., and Sutley, S.J., 1998, Sediment
and ground-water geochemistry of the 98th St. drill core near Albuquerque,
New Mexico, in Slate, J.L., ed., U.S. Geological Survey Middle Rio Grande
Basin Study—Proceedings of the 2nd Annual Workshop, Albuquerque, NM, Feb.
1998: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 98-337.
- Schmidt, R.G., Ager, C.M., and Gil Montes, J., 1999, A study of Roman
mining and metallurgy and their environmental consequences at Plasenzuela,
Extremadura, Spain, in Metals in Antiquity, Young, S.M.M., Pollard, A.M.,
Budd, P., and Ixer, R.A., eds., Archaeo Press, Oxford, England, p. 234-242.
- Stanton, M.R., Sanzolone, R.F., Grimes, D.J., and Sutley, S.J., 1999, A
preliminary evaluation of metal abundances and associations in drill
cuttings from production wells on the western side of Albuquerque and
comparisons to 98th St. core samples, in Proceedings of the 3rd Annual Middle
Rio Grande Basin Study Workshop, Albuquerque, NM, Feb. 1999: U.S. Geological
Survey Open-File Report 99-203.
- Kilburn, J.E., Smith, D.B., and Sutley, S.J., 1999, Analytical Results and
Conceptual Model of Mine Drainage at the Holden Mine, Chelan County,
Washington: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 99-348, 36 p.
- Ager, C.M, and Schmidt, R.G., 1999, Dispersion and persistence of toxic
elements in a Roman lead-silver district in Extremadura, Western Spain
[Abs.]: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Volume 31,
Number 7, p. A343.
- Nagorski, S.A., 1999, A basin-wide scale investigation of the solute and bed
sediment geochemistry of the Blackfoot River, Montana [Abs.]: Eos,
Transactions, American Geophysical Union Volume 80, Number 46, November 16,
1999, p. F374.
- Stanton, M.R., Sanzolone, R.F., Grimes, D.J., Sutley, S.J., and Meier,
A.L., 2000, Mineralogical and geochemical constraints on Fe and As residence and
mobility in the Albuquerque Basin, in Examples from basin sediments and
volcanic rocks, in Cole, J.C., ed., U.S. Geological Survey Middle Rio Grande
Basin Study—Proceedings of the 4th Annual Workshop, Albuquerque, NM,
February 15-16, 2000: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 00-488, 59 p.
- Nagorski, S.A., McKinnon, T.E., Moore, J.N., and Smith, D.B., 2000,
Geochemical characteization of surface water and streambed sediment of the
Blackfoot River, Montana, duriong low flow conditions, August 16-20, 1998:
U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 00-003, 59 p.
- Nagorski, S.A., Moore,J.N., and Smith, D.B., 2000, Geochemical variability
at seasonal to bi-hourly timescales in selected western Montana rivers
[Abs.]: Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union, v. 81, no. 48, p.
F474.
- Stanton, M.R., Sanzolone, R.F., Sutley, S.J., Grimes, D.J., Lamothe, P.J.,
and Zielinski, R.A., 2001, Geochemical studies of arsenic in the Albuquerque
Basin, New Mexico, Abstracts of the USGS Workshop on Arsenic in the
Environment, February 20-22, Denver CO. Availagble on-line at http://wwwbrr.cr.usgs.gov/Arsenic/finalabstracts.htm.
- Stanton, M.R., Sanzolone, R.F., Sutley, S.J., Grimes, D.J., Meier, A.L., and
Lamothe, P.J., 2001, Abundance, residence, and mobility of arsenic in Santa
Fe Group sediments, Albuquerque Basin, New Mexico: Geological Society of
America Abstracts with Programs, Rocky Mountain/South Central GSA Regional
Meeting, April, 2001, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
- Nagorski, S.A., Moore, J.N., and Smith, D.B., 2001, Geochemical baseline
studies and relations between water quality and streamflow in the Upper
Blackfoot Watershed, Montana: Data for July, 1997 - December, 1998: U.S.
Geological Survey Open-File Report 01-0059, 94 p. Available on-line at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2001/ofr-01-0059/.
- Nagorski, Sonia A., 2001, Spatial and temporal variatioons in the
geochemistry of several western Montana streams and rivers: Ph.D.
Dissertation, University of Montana, May 2001, 198 p.
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Task 2 - Leadership in IUGS/IAGC Working Group on Global Geochemical Baselines
- Smith, D.B., Plant, J.A., Garrett, R.G., and Darnley, A.G., 1997, A Global
Geochemical Reference Network: The First Step Toward Establishing Global
Geochemical Baselines for Environmental Management [Abs.]: Geological Society of America Abstracts with
Programs, Vol. 29, no. 6, p. A-435.
- Plant, J.A., Smith, D.B., Smith, B., and Williams, L.A., 1999, Geochemistry,
human health, and the environment at the global scale [Abs.]: Abstracts of
the 2nd Conference on Environmental Geochemical Baseline Mapping in Europe,
Sept. 1-4, 1999, Vilnius, Lithuania, p. 110.
- Williams, L.A., Ahlsved, C., Blackwell, P.A., Demetriades, A., Klein, P.,
Marsina, K., Mjartanova. H., Plant, J.A., Salminen, R., Sandstrom, H.,
Smith, D.B., and Tarvainen. T., 1999, Forum of European Geological Surveys
Geochemistry Working Group Progress Report, September 1998 - September 1999,
Summary and Future Plans: British Geological Survey Technical Report WP/99/12, 45 p.
- Smith, D.B., Gustavsson, Nils, and Bolviken, Bjorn, 2000, Geochemical maps
based on ultra-low-density sampling of the conterminous United States
[Abs.]: Abstracts Volume, 31st International Geological Congress, Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil.
- Reeder, S., and others, 2000, IUGS/IAGC Working Group on "Global Geochemical
Baselines" and Forum of European Geological Surveys "Geochemistry" Working
Group, Progress Report, September 1999 - November 2000, Minutes and Future
Plans: British Geological Survey Technical Report IR/00/69, 21 p.
- Plant, J., Smith, D., Smith, B., and Williams, L., 2000,
Environmental Geochemistry at the Global Scale: Journal of the Geological
Society, London, Vol. 157, p. 837-849.
- Plant, J., Smith, D., Smith, B., and Williams, L., 2001,
Environmental Geochemistry at the Global Scale: Applied Geochemistry, vol.
16, p. 1291-1308.
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Task 3 - Three Dimensional Backgrounds and Baselines
- Hatch, J.R., Goldhaber, M.B., Pashin, J.C., Offield, T.W., and Finkelman,
R.B., 1998, Anomalous Arsenic Contents in Lower Pennsylvanian Coals,
Warrior Field, Northwestern Alabama, U.S.A. Evidence for Fluid Flow During
Alleghanian Thrusting: Proceedings, Fifteenth Annual International
Pittsburgh Coal Conference, PDF file on CD-ROM.
- Pashin, J.C., Carroll, R.E., Hatch, J.R., and Goldhaber, M.B., 1999,
Interplay among cleating, maturation, and mineralization in coalbed methane
reservoirs of the Black Warrior Basin: International Coalbed Methane
Symposium Proceedings, p.367-375.
- Pashin, J.C., Carroll, R.E., Hatch, J.R., and Goldhaber, M.B., 1999,
Mechanical and thermal control of cleating and shearing in coal: examples
from the Alabama coalbed methane fields, USA, in Mastalerz, M., Glickson,
M., and Golding, S., eds., Coalbed Methane: Scientific, Environmental and
Economic Evaluation: Dordrecht, Netherlands, Kluwer Academic Publishers.
- Lee, R., 1999, Evaluation of the role of MVT deposits on the modern
groundwater chemistry in the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system: Colorado School
of Mines, MS Thesis.
- Kolker, A., Goldhaber, M.B., Hatch, J.R., Meeker, J.R., and Koeppen, R.P.,
1999, Arsenic-rich pyrite in coals of the Warrior Field, northwestern
Alabama: mineralogical evidence for a hydrothermal origin: Abstracts with Programs - Geological
Society of America, v. 31, no. 7. p. A. 402.
- Goldhaber, M.B., Bigelow, R.C., Hatch, J.R., and Pashing, J.C., 2000, Distribution of a
Suite of Elements Including Arsenic and Mercury in Alabama Coal: U.S.
Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-2333.
- Goldhaber, M.B., Irwin, E.R., Atkins, B.J., Lee, R.C., Zappia, H., Black,
D., and Finkelman, R.B., 2000, Enrivonmental impact of elevated arsenic in
Southern Appalachian Basin coals, in Metal Ions in Biology and Medicene Volume
6; Centeno, J.A., et al eds. Lohn Libby Eurotext, France, p. 38-41.
- Goldhaber, M.B., Irwin, E., Atkins, B., Lee, L., Black, D., Zappia, H.,
Hatch, J., Barwick, L., Cartwright, W., Sanzolone, R., Ruppert, L., Kolker,
A., and Finkelman, R., 2001, Arsenic in Stream Sediments of Northern Alabama:
U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map Map MF-2357.
- Goldhaber, M.B., Lee, R.C., Hatch, J.R., Pashing, J.C., and Treworgy, J., 2001,
Role of Large Scale Fluid-Flow in Subsurface Arsenic Enrichment, in Arsenic in
Groundwaters, A. Welch, and K. Stollenwerk, eds. Kluwer Academic Publishers,
Norwell, MA.
- Lee, L., and Goldhaber, M., 2001, The Behavior of As in Drinking Water
Aquifers Containing Mississippi Valley-Type Mineralization: A
Characterization of the Ozark Plateaus Region of the US [Abs.]:
Abstracts of the USGS Workshop on Arsenic in the Environment, February
20-22, Denver CO. Available on-line at http://wwwbrr.cr.usgs.gov/Arsenic/finalabstracts.htm.
- Goldhaber, M.B., Irwin, E.R., Atkins, J.B., Lee, L., Blach, D.D., Zappia, H., Hatch, J.R., Pashin, J.C., Sanzolone, R.F., Ruppert, L.F., Kolker, A., and Finkelman, R. B., 2001, Dispersion of arsenic from arsenic-enriched coal and gold ore in the southern Appalachians: Abstracts of the USGS Workshop on Arsenic in the Environment, February 20-22, Denver CO. Available on-line at http://wwwbrr.cr.usgs.gov/Arsenic/finalabstracts.htm.
- Tuttle, M., Goldhaber, M. Ruppert, L., and Hower, J., 2001, Arsenic in Coal and
Stream Sediments from the Appalachian Basin Kentucky [Abs.]: Abstracts of the
USGS Conference on Arsenic in the Environment, February 21-22, 2001, Denver
CO. Available on-line at http://wwwbrr.cr.usgs.gov/Arsenic/finalabstracts.htm.
- Lee, L., and Goldhaber, M.B., 2001, The Distribution of MVT-related
Metals in Acid Insoluble Residues of Paleozoic Rocks in the Ozark Plateaus
Region of the United States: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 01-0042, 32 p.
- Lee, L., and Goldhaber, M., 2001, The Distribution of Dissolved
MVT-related Metals in Ground Water of the Ozark Plateaus Region of the
United States: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 01-0171.
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Task 4 - Environmental Behavior of Mineral Deposits in Alaska's National Parks
- Eppinger, R.G., Rosenkrans, D., and Briggs, P.H., 1999, Environmental
investigation of mineral deposits in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and
Preserve, Alaska [Abs.]: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 99-321, p.
10.
- Eppinger, R.G., Briggs, P.H., Rosenkrans, D., Ballestrazze, V., Aldir, J.,
Brown, Z.A., Crock, J.G., d'Angelo, W.M., Doughten, M.W., Fey, D.L.,
Hageman, P.L., Hopkins, R.T., Knight, R.J., et al., 1999, Geochemical data for
environmental studies of mineral deposits at Nabesna, Kennecott, Orange
Hill, Bond Creek, Bremner, and Gold Hill, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
and Preserve, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 99-342
(published as a CD-ROM and available on line at: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1999/ofr-99-0342/.
- Eppinger, R.G., Briggs, P.H., Rosenkrans, D., and Ballestrazze, V., 1999,
Environmental geochemical studies of stratabound, prophyry, and skarn
mineral deposits in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska
[Abs.]: University of Cape Town, 5th International Symposium on
Environmental Geochemistry, Cape Town, April 2000, Conference Abstracts and
Scientific Programme, 151 p.
- Eppinger, R., Briggs, P., Rosenkrans, D., and Ballestrazze, V., 1999,
Environmental geochemical studies of selected mineral deposits in
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska: U.S. Geological
Survey Professional Paper 1619, 41 p.
- Eppinger, R.G., Briggs, P.H., Crock, J.G., Meier, A.L., Sutley, S.J. and
Theodorakos, P.M., 2001, Environmental geochemical study of the Slate Creek
antimony deposit, Kantishna Hills, Denali National Park and Preserve,
Alaska, in, Wilson, F., and Moore, T., eds., Geologic studies in Alaska by
the U.S. Geological Survey: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper, 31
manuscript pages (in press).
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Task 5 - Regional Geoscience Baseline Studies of the Fortymile and Goodpasture
River Watershed, Alaska
- Crock, J.G., Gough, L.P., Wanty, R.B., Day, W.C., Wang, B., Gamble, B.M.,
Henning, M., Brown, Z.A., and Meier, A.L, 0099, Regional geochemical results
from the analysis of rock, water, soil, stream sediment, and vegetation
samples—Fortymile River watershed, east-central Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File
Report 99-33, 82 p.
- Wanty, R.B., Wang, B., and Vohden, J., 1997, Studies of suction dredge
gold-placer mining operations along the Fortymile River, eastern Alaska:
U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet, FS-154-97, 2 p.
- Gough, L.P., Day., W., Crock, J.G.. Gamble, B.M., and Henning, M.W.,
1997, Placer gold mining in Alaska—Cooperative studies on the effect of suction
dredge operations on the Fortymile River: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet,
FS-155-97. 4 p.
- Day, W.C., Wanty, R.B., Gamble, B.M., Henning, M.W., Crock, J., and Gough,
L.P., 1998, Geology and regional surface-water quality of the Fortymile
Mining District, Yukon-Tanana Uplands, Alaska [Abs.]: Geological Society of America
Abstracts with Programs.
- Wanty, R.B., Wang, B., Vohden, J., Briggs, P.H., and Meier, A.L., 1999,
Regional baseline geochemistry and environmental effects of gold-placer
mining operations on the Fortymile River, eastern Alaska, in Kelley, K.D.,
and Gough, L.P. (eds.), Geologic Studies in Alaska by the U.S. Geological
Survey, 1998: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Professional Paper 1616,
p. 101-110.
- Day, W.C., Gamble, B.M, Henning, M.W, and Smith, B.D., 1999, Geologic
setting of the Fortymile River area--polyphase deformational history within
part of the eastern Yukon-Tanana Uplands of Alaska, in Kelley, K.D. and
Gough, L.P. (eds.), Geologic studies in Alaska by the U.S. Geological
Survey, 1998: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1616, p. 65-82.
- Gough, L.P., Crock, J.G., Wanty, R.B., Day, W.C., Wang, B., and Gamble,
B.M., 1999, Regional geochemical cycling of cadmium and associated elements,
Fortymile River Mining District, east-central Alaska [Abs.], in,
Kabata-Pendias, A., and Szteke, B., eds., Proceedings of 3rd Conference on
Cadmium in the Environment, Warsaw, Polish Academy of Sciences Publication
6C, p. 12.
- Crock, J.G., Larison, J.R., and Gough, L.P., 1999, Cadmium accumulation in
native vegetation of Alaska and Colorado [Abs.], in, Centeno, J.A.,
Collery, P., Vernet, G., Finkelman, R.B., Gibb, H., and Etienne, J-C, eds.,
Metal ions in biology and medicine, Vol. 6, Proceedings of the Sixth
International Symposium on Metal Ions in Biology and Medicine, John Libby
Eurotext, Paris, p. 177-179.
- Crock, J.G., Gough, L.P., Wanty, R.B., Day, W.C., Wang, B., Gamble, B.M.,
Henning, M., Brown, Z.A., and Meier, A.L., 2000, Regional geochemical
results from the analyses of rock, water, soil, stream sediment, and
vegetation samples—Fortymile River watershed, east-central Alaska, 1998
sampling: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 00-511, 157 p.
- Gough, L.P., Crock, J.G., and Day, W.C., 2000, Cadmium accumulation in
browse vegetation, Alaska--implications for animal health [Abs.], in,
Skinner, H.C.W., and Berger, A., eds., Proceedings of the Workshop on
Medical Geology, Sept. 16-19, 2000, Upsala, Sweden (in press).
- Gough, L.P., Crock, J.G., Day, W.C., and Vohden, J., 2000, Biogeochemistry
of arsenic and cadmium, Fortymile River watershed, east-central Alaska, in
Gough, L.P., and Wilson, F.H., (eds.), Geologic Studies in Alaska by the
U.S. Geological Survey, 1999: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper
1633, p. 109-126.
- Gough, L.P., Crock, J.G., and Day, W.C., 2000, Biogeochemistry of arsenic in
eolian sub-arctic soils, Yukon-Tanana Upland, Alaska [Abs.]: Abstracts of the USGS Workshop on Arsenic in the Environment, February 20-22, Denver CO. Available on-line at http://wwwbrr.cr.usgs.gov/Arsenic/finalabstracts.htm.
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Task 6 - Sources and Cycling of Hg in Lakes and Reservoirs in the Central Region, USA
- Gray, J.E., Crock, J.G., and Brown, Z.A., 2000, Environmental geochemistry
of abandoned mercury mines, USA [Abs.], in 5th International Symposium on
Environmental Geochemistry, Cape Town, South Africa, April 24-29, 2000, p.
7.
- Gray, J.E., 2000, An overview of mercury transport, cycling, and
environmental effects of mercury: Journal of Materials and Geoenvironment,
v. 48, p. 2-9.
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Task 7 - Environmental Geochemistry in Joshua Tree National Park (JTNP),
California
- King, H.D., Chaffee, M.A., 1999, Analytical results and sample locality maps
for rock, stream-sediment, and soil samples, Joshua Tree National Park,
Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, California: U.S. Geological Survey
Open-File Report 99-367A, 63 p. (paper copy) and 99-367-B (diskette).
- King, H.D., and Chaffee, M.A., 2000, Analytical results and sample locality
maps for rock, stream-sediment, and soil samples, Northern and Eastern
Colorado Desert BLM Resource Area, Imperial, Riverside, and San Bernardino
Counties, California: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 00-0105-A, 163
p. (paper copy) and 00-0105-B (CD-ROM).
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