Alaska Geochemical Database Version 3.0 (AGDB3)—Including best value data compilations for rock, sediment, soil, mineral, and concentrate sample media Matthew Granitto,1 Nora B. Shew,1 Susan M. Karl,1 Bronwen Wang,1 Keith A. Labay,1 Melanie B. Werdon,2 Susan S. Seitz,2 and John E. Hoppe3 1 U.S. Geological Survey 2 Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys 3 U.S. Bureau of Land Management 2019 U.S. Geological Survey ScienceBase Data Release U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 1117 report supports this data release and is available at https://doi.org/10.3133/ds1117 ABSTRACT The Alaska Geochemical Database Version 3.0 (AGDB3) contains new geochemical data compilations in which each geologic material sample has one best value determination for each analyzed species, greatly improving speed and efficiency of use. Like the Alaska Geochemical Database Version 2.0 before it, the AGDB3 was created and designed to compile and integrate geochemical data from Alaska to facilitate geologic mapping, petrologic studies, mineral resource assessments, definition of geochemical baseline values and statistics, element concentrations and associations, environmental impact assessments, and studies in public health associated with geology. This relational database was created from databases and published datasets of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Atomic Energy Commission National Uranium Resource Evaluation (NURE), Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys (DGGS), U.S. Bureau of Mines, and U.S. Bureau of Land Management. It serves as a data archive in support of Alaskan geologic and geochemical projects and contains data tables in several different formats describing historical and new quantitative and qualitative geochemical analyses. The analytical results were determined by 112 laboratory and field analytical methods on 396,343 rock, sediment, soil, mineral, heavy-mineral concentrate and oxalic acid leachate samples. Most samples were collected by personnel of these agencies and analyzed in agency laboratories or, under contracts, in commercial analytical laboratories. These data represent analyses of samples collected as part of various agency programs and projects from 1938 through 2017. In addition, mineralogical data from 18,138 nonmagnetic heavy-mineral concentrate samples are included in this database. The AGDB3 includes historical geochemical data archived in the USGS National Geochemical Database (NGDB) and NURE National Uranium Resource Evaluation-Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance databases, and in the DGGS Geochemistry database. Retrievals from these databases were used to generate most of the AGDB data set. These data were checked for accuracy regarding sample location, sample media type, and analytical methods used. In other words, the data of the AGDB3 supersedes data in the AGDB and the AGDB2, but the background about the data in these two earlier versions are needed by users of the current AGDB3 to understand what has been done to amend, clean up, correct and format this data. Corrections were entered, resulting in an improved Alaska geochemical dataset, the AGDB3. Data that were not previously in these databases because the data predate the earliest agency geochemical databases, or were once excluded for programmatic reasons, are included here in the AGDB3 and will be added to the NGDB and DGGS Geochemistry. The AGDB3 data provided here are the most accurate and complete to date and should be useful for a wide variety of geochemical studies. The AGDB3 data provided in the online version of the database may be updated or changed periodically. PURPOSE The AGDB3 was created and designed to compile and integrate geochemical data from Alaska to facilitate geologic mapping, petrologic studies, mineral resource assessments, definition of geochemical baseline values and statistics, element concentrations and associations, environmental impact assessments, and studies in public health associated with geology. CONTENTS REPORT FILES ds1117_readme.txt ds1117_pamphlet.pdf The Alaska Geochemical Database Version 3.0 (AGDB3) consists of a USGS Data Series pamphlet with accompanying figures and tables, and a USGS data release data package. Refer to the Data Series 1117 (https://doi.org/10.3133/ds1117) for information regarding the contents, construction and relationships of the AGDB3. The pamphlet is a Portable Document Format (.pdf) map, which requires Adobe Acrobat for viewing. Acrobat software runs on a variety of systems and is available for download free of charge from Adobe at http://www.adobe.com. DATA RELEASE The data release (4.2 gigabytes) comprises nine linked databases to accommodate the Microsoft Access limitations of 2 gigabytes for a single database, 256 data fields for a single table, and 6 kilobytes of data for a single record. AGDB3_Geol.accdb AGDB3_Chem_A_Cs.accdb AGDB3_Chem_Cu_Ru.accdb AGDB3_Chem_S_Zr.accdb AGDB3_BV_A_Cr.accdb AGDB3_BV_Cs_Lu.accdb AGDB3_BV_Mg_Sb.accdb AGDB3_BV_Sc_Zr.accdb AGDB3_BV_WRMajors.accdb Data are contained in 19 tables (MS Access 2016 and comma-separated ASCII text formats), which are described in table 1 of the AGDB3 Data Series 1117 pamphlet (https://doi.org/10.3133/ds1117). The 11 primary database tables contain quantitative analytical results, sample data, field site information, geologic and mineralogic data. Geol_AllSpls Geol_DeDuped Chem_A_Cs Chem_Cu_Ru Chem_S_Zr BV_A_Cr BV_Cs_Lu BV_Mg_Sb BV_Sc_Zr BV_WRMajors Mineralogy Analytical method information and analytical method bibliography lookup tables provide references for quantitative results. A reference table of field name definitions and an FGDC metadata record can assist the user in understanding the names and content of database fields. Parameter Parameter_Rank AnalyticMethod AnalyticMethod_Biblio LabName Agency_Biblio MineralName DataDictionary This structure provides for efficient storage of information and for data verification. Data may be extracted from the AGDB3 to meet specific user needs by constructing user-defined queries. Relationships between these tables are depicted as lines in figure 2 and are defined in appendix 4 of the AGDB3 Data Series 1117 pamphlet (https://doi.org/10.3133/ds1117). DISCLAIMERS: This database, identified as U.S. Geological Survey data release http://doi.org/10.5066/P98NHRAD, has been approved for release by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Although this database has been subjected to rigorous review and is substantially complete, the USGS reserves the right to revise the data pursuant to further analysis and review. Furthermore, it is released on condition that neither the USGS nor the United States Government may be held liable for any damages resulting from its authorized or unauthorized use. Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the U.S. Geological Survey, no warranty, expressed or implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data on any other system, or for general or scientific purposes, nor shall the act of distribution constitute such warranty. The USGS or the U.S. Government shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described and/or contained herein. Any use of trade, product or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Geological Survey. Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also may contain copyrighted material as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items for other than personal use must be secured from the copyright owner. There may be more current or other data available. HOW TO OBTAIN THE DIGITAL DATA RELEASE FILES The digital files constituting the data release for this report can be obtained via the Internet from the U.S. Geological Survey ScienceBase website. Go to the web page at https://doi.org/10.5066/P98NHRAD and follow the directions to download the files. The database runs on Microsoft Access 2007, 2010, and 2016.