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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 developed this information base through studies ranging in scale from site-specific to regional and national. The resulting databases and interpretive products (including geochemical maps) are available for use 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 is available for use 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 was an essential first step for assessing and monitoring the state of the Earth's land surface.

Products

Products are listed according to task:

Task 1 - Baseline Characterization and Monitoring of Minerals-Related Mitigation Sites and Undeveloped Mineral Deposits

• 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.
• 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.
• 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., 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.
• 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.
• 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., 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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., 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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., 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.
• 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, in Abstracts of the USGS Workshop on Arsenic in the Environment, February 20-22, Denver CO.
• 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.

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Task 2 - Leadership in IUGS/IAGC Working Group on Global Geochemical Baselines

• Plant, J., Smith, D., Smith, B., and Williams, L., 2001, Environmental Geochemistry at the Global Scale: Applied Geochemistry, vol. 16, p. 1291-1308.
• 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.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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

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Task 3 - Three Dimensional Backgrounds and Baselines

• 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., 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., Irwin, E.R., Atkins, J.B., Lee, L., Black, 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.
• 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., 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.
• 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.
• 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: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 31, no. 7, p. A. 402.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

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Task 4 - Environmental Behavior of Mineral Deposits in Alaska's National Parks

• 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.
• 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., Rosenkrans, D., and Briggs, P.H., 1999, Environmental investigation of mineral deposits in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska [Abs.], in Abstracts of the 11th Annual U.S. Geological Survey, Central Region, 1999 Poster Review; collected abstracts of selected poster papers presented at scientific meetings: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 99-321, p. 10.

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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., 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.
• 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, 1999, 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.
• 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.
• 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 1615, p. 65-82.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 Paper1633, p. 109-126.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 Paper 1615, p. 101-110.

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Task 6 - Sources and Cycling of Hg in Lakes and Reservoirs in the Central Region, USA

• 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.
• 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.

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Task 7 - Environmental Geochemistry in Joshua Tree National Park (JTNP), California

• 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).
• 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).

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