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As part of the Northern Rockies Intermontane Basins study of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program, data collected between 1974 and 1996 were compiled to describe contaminants in tissue of riverine species. Tissue-contaminant data from 11 monitoring programs and studies representing 28 sites in the study area were summarized. Tissue-contaminant data...

Environmental geochemical investigations were carried out between 1994 and 1997 in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve (WRST), Alaska. Mineralized areas studied include the historic Nabesna gold mine/mill and surrounding areas; the historic Kennecott copper mill area and nearby Bonanza, Erie, Glacier, and Jumbo mines; the historic mill and gold...

Extensive reconnaissance assessments of the mineral resource potential of the Colville and Okanogan National Forests in northeastern Washington were conducted during 1979-1982 by a private consultant A.R. Grant, under contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. These forests occupy large parts of Pend Oreille, Stevens, Ferry, and Okanogan...

A study was conducted to determine the effect of dietary protein and lipid source on dorsal fin erosion in rainbow trout. Seven diets were each fed to four replicate lots of 300 first-feeding fry cultured in 75 l aluminum troughs for 8 weeks. Two basal diets were manufactured with approximately...

Prospect Gulch is a major source of iron, aluminum, zinc, and other metals to Cement Creek. Information is needed to prioritize remediation and develop strategies for cleanup of historical abandoned mine sites in Prospect Gulch. Chemical-constituent loads were determined in Prospect Gulch, a high-elevation alpine stream in southwestern Colorado that is affected by natural...

Geologic mapping combined with the tephrochronology of spatially isolated sedimentary sections along the western Black Mountains piedmont adjacent the Death Valley fault zone (DVFZ) improves the late Cenozoic stratigraphy from relative age to correlated age. Pliocene tephra layers identified in Funeral Formation conglomerates at Artist Drive and Copper Canyon include...

The Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) Initiative is part of a larger strategy of the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to clean up Federal lands contaminated by abandoned mines.Thousands of abandond hard-rock metal mines (such as gold, copper, lead, and zinc) have left a dual...

Successful mineral exploration strategy requires identification of some of the risk sources and considering them in the decision-making process so that controllable risk can be reduced. Risk is defined as chance of failure or loss. Exploration is an economic activity involving risk and uncertainty, so risk also must be defined...

The elements oxygen, hydrogen, sulfur, and carbon are important constituents of hydrothermal ore-forming systems and the weathering processes of mineral deposits in the surficial environment. They also play key roles in volcanic activity, ecosystem dynamics, climate change, and hydrologic and atmospheric processes. Therefore, study of the stable isotopes of these...

A thorough understanding of the environmental processes that affect mineral deposits and mine wastes has become increasingly important as the Nation wrestles with how to meet our current demand for metals without compromising the environment and how to mitigate the damage caused by the mining practices of previous generations. Regulatory...

Metals are released into aquatic systems from many sources, often at sublethal concentrations. The effects of sublethal concentrations of metals on fish are not entirely understood. The objective of this study was to determine the hematological and biochemical effects of a range of copper concentrations (6.4, 16.0, 26.9 ??g Cu/L)...

Trace-element concentrations in 541 streambed-sediment samples collected from 20 study areas across the conterminous United States were examined as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program of the U.S. Geological Survey. Sediment samples were sieved and the <63-μm fraction was retained for determination of total concentrations of trace elements. Aluminum,...

This is the first reported occurrence of an active hydrothermal field in an oceanic fracture zone setting. The hydrothermal field occurs in a pull-apart basin within the Blanco Fracture Zone (BFZ), which has four distinct mineral deposit types: (1) barite mounds and chimneys, (2) barite stockwork breccia, (3) silica-barite beds,...

A model for trace metals that considers in-stream transport, metal oxide precipitation-dissolution, and pH-dependent sorption is presented. Linkage between a surface complexation submodel and the stream transport equations provides a framework for modeling sorption onto static and/or dynamic surfaces. A static surface (e.g., an iron- oxide-coated streambed) is defined as...

A study was conducted to determine the effect of dietary protein and lipid source on dorsal fin erosion in rainbow trout. Seven diets were each fed to four replicate lots of 300 first-feeding fry cultured in 75 1 aluminum troughs for 8 weeks. Two basal diets were manufactured with approximately...

Benthic macroinvertebrates with elevated concentrations of metals were collected from the Coeur d'Alene (CDA) River, Idaho, pasteurized, and fed to cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarki in the laboratory from start of feeding until 90 d posthatch. Invertebrates were collected from two sites known to contain elevated concentrations of metals: near Pinehurst...

During 1996 and 1997, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducted a study to determine the cause(s) of population decline and low survival of pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) fawns on Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge (HMNAR) located in southeastern Oregon (USA). As part of that study, blood, fecal, and tissue...

The Intergovernmental Task Force on Monitoring has suggested studies on ambient (in-stream) and compliance (wastewater) data to determine if monitoring can be reduced locally or nationally. The similarity in temporal trends between retrospective ambient and compliance water-quality data collected from Pool 2 of the Mississippi River, USA, was determined for...

Principal Component and other statistical analyses of chemical and mineralogical data of Fe-Mn oxyhydroxide crusts and their underlying rock substrates in the central Pacific indicate that substrate rocks do not influence crust composition. Two ridges near Johnston Atoll were dredged repetitively and up to seven substrate rock types were recovered...

Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) collected from four sites in the Red River of the North in 1994 were analyzed for arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), selenium (So), and zinc (Zn). Concentrations differed among liver, muscle, and whole body. Generally, trace element concentrations were...

A thorough understanding of the fate and transport of metals in Lake Superior is necessary in order to predict the ability of Lake Superior to recover from anthropogenic perturbations (copper mining). Sediment cores were collected from nearshore and offshore sites in...

Selenium is a naturally occurring element that is present in some soils. Unlike mercury and lead, which also are natural environmental components, selenium is an essential nutrient in living systems. The amount of dietary selenium required by animals depends upon many factors, including the availability of certain other metals such...

Sulfur isotopic analysis of the elemental sulfur reference material Soufre de Lacq, prepared as silver sulfide by chromous chloride reduction and as copper sulfide by sealed-tube synthesis, indicates that Soufre de Lacq is isotopically homogeneous across different size fractions to within analytical uncertainty (??0.15???). The sulfur isotopic composition of aliquots...

The presence of dissolved humic substances (HS, fulvic and humic acids) generally reduces the up take of hydrophobic organic compounds into aquatic organisms. The extent of this effect depends both on the concentration and on the origin of the HS. The aim of this study was to investigate the role...