Backgrounds and Baselines
This project developed a geochemical information base through studies ranging in scale from site-specific to regional and national.
Overview
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.
Project Tasks
- Baseline Characterization and Monitoring of Minerals-Related Mitigation Sites and Undeveloped Mineral Deposits
- Leadership in IUGS/IAGC Working Group on Global Geochemical Baselines
- Three Dimensional Backgrounds and Baselines
- Environmental Behavior of Mineral Deposits in Alaska's National Parks
- Regional Geoscience Baseline Studies of the Fortymile and Goodpasture River Watershed, Alaska
- Sources and Cycling of Hg in Lakes and Reservoirs in the Central Region, USA
- Environmental Geochemistry in Joshua Tree National Park (JTNP), California
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Below are publications associated with this project.
Regional geochemical results from the analyses of rock, water, soil, stream sediment, and vegetation samples : Fortymile River Watershed, east-central, Alaska, 1998 sampling
Regional baseline geochemistry and environmental effects of gold placer mining operations on the Fortymile River, eastern Alaska: A section in Geologic studies in Alaska by the U.S. Geological Survey, 1998
Environmental geochemistry at the global scale
U. S. Geological Survey Middle Rio Grande basin study: Proceedings of the Fourth annual workshop, Albuquerque, New Mexico, February 15-16, 2000
Analytical results and sample locality map for rock, stream-sediment, and soil samples, Northern and Eastern Colorado Desert BLM Resource Area, Imperial, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties, California
Analytical results and sample locality maps for rock, stream-sediment, and soil samples, Joshua Tree National Park, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, California
Analytical results and conceptual model of mine drainage at the Holden Mine, Chelan County, Washington
U.S. Geological Survey middle Rio Grande basin study; proceedings of the third annual workshop, Albuquerque, New Mexico, February 24-25, 1999
Regional geochemical results from the analyses of rock, water, soil, stream sediment and vegetation samples; Fortymile River watershed, East-Central Alaska
A Study of Roman mining and metallurgy and their environmental consequences at Plasenzuela, Extremadura, Spain
Mechanical and thermal control of cleating and shearing in coal: examples from the Alabama coalbed methane field, USA
Abstracts of the 11th Annual U.S. Geological Survey, Central Region, 1999 Poster Review; Collected Abstracts of Selected Poster Papers Presented at Scientific Meetings
This project developed a geochemical information base through studies ranging in scale from site-specific to regional and national.
Overview
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.
Project Tasks
- Baseline Characterization and Monitoring of Minerals-Related Mitigation Sites and Undeveloped Mineral Deposits
- Leadership in IUGS/IAGC Working Group on Global Geochemical Baselines
- Three Dimensional Backgrounds and Baselines
- Environmental Behavior of Mineral Deposits in Alaska's National Parks
- Regional Geoscience Baseline Studies of the Fortymile and Goodpasture River Watershed, Alaska
- Sources and Cycling of Hg in Lakes and Reservoirs in the Central Region, USA
- Environmental Geochemistry in Joshua Tree National Park (JTNP), California
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Below are publications associated with this project.