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 The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New Mexico Environment Department, is investigating the pre-mining ground-water chemistry at the Molycorp molybdenum mine in the Red River Valley, New Mexico. The primary approach is to determine the processes controlling ground-water chemistry at an unmined, off-site but proximal analog. The Straight...

Red Mountain Creek, an acid mine drainage stream in southwestern Colorado, was the subject of a synoptic study conducted in August 2002. During the synoptic study, a solution containing lithium chloride was injected continuously to allow for the calculation of streamflow using the tracer-dilution method. Synoptic water-quality samples were collected...

Recently, the estrogenic hormones 17??-estradiol (E2) and 17??-ethinyl estradiol (EE2) have been detected in municipal wastewater effluent and surface waters at concentrations sufficient to cause feminization of male fish. To evaluate the fate of steroid hormones in an engineered treatment wetland, lithium chloride, E2, and EE 2 were added to...

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the National Park Service conducted an intensive assessment of selected springs along the Colorado River Corridor in Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, and Grand Canyon National Park in 1997 and 1998, for the purpose of measuring and...

Concentrations and mass loads of total mercury and methylmercury in streams draining abandoned mercury mines and near geothermal discharge in Cache Creek Basin, California, were measured during a 17-month period from January 2000 through May 2001. Rainfall and runoff averages during the study period were lower than long-term averages. Mass...

Concentrations and loads of total mercury and methylmercury were measured in streams draining abandoned mercury mines and in the proximity of geothermal discharge in the Cache Creek watershed of California during a 17-month period from January 2000 through May 2001. Rainfall and runoff were lower than long-term averages during the...

To evaluate the importance of matrix diffusion as a mechanism for retarding radionuclide transport in the vicinity of a fault located in unsaturated fractured rock, we carried out an in situ field experiment in the Exploratory Studies Facility at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. This experiment involved the release of ∼82,000 L...

Tracer-injection studies were done in Belcher Gulch in the upper Animas River watershed, southwestern Colorado, to determine whether the alpine stream infiltrates into underground mine workings of the North Star Mine and other nearby mines in the area. The tracer-injection studies were designed to determine if and where along Belcher...

Chemical analyses and crystal structure refinements were performed on lithian siderophyllite-3T crystals from granitic pegmatites of the anorogenic Pikes Peak batholith (Colorado) to characterize the crystal chemistry and relations with trioctahedral lithium-bearing micas showing different stacking sequences. Chemical data show that the studied samples fall on the siderophyllite-polylithionite join, closer...

Analytical grade L-glutamic acid is chemically stable and has a C/N mole ratio of 5, which is close to that of many of natural biological materials, such as blood and animal tissue. Two L-glutamic acid reference materials with substantially different 13C and 15N abundances have been prepared for use as...

Overview -- Rubidium is a soft, ductile, silvery-white metal that melts at 39.3 ?C. One of the alkali metals, it is positioned in group 1 (or IA) of the periodic table between potassium and cesium. Naturally occurring rubidium is slightly radioactive. Rubidium is an extremely reactive metal--it ignites spontaneously in...

Bed-sediment samples from 21 selected streams in southern Louisiana were collected and analyzed for the presence of trace elements and organic compounds during 1998 as part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment Program. Concentrations of selected trace elements and organic compounds were compared on the basis of sediment-quality...

A sediment core from the Cariaco Basin on the Venezuelan continental shelf, which recovered sediment that has been dated back to 20 ka (thousand years ago), was examined for its major-element-oxide and trace-element composition. Cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni), vanadium (V), and zinc (Zn) can...

Clear Creek, one of the major tributaries of the upper Sacramento River, drains the eastern Trinity Mountains. Alluvial plain and terrace gravels of lower Clear Creek, at the northwest edge of the Sacramento Valley, contain placer gold that has been mined since the Gold Rush by various methods including dredging....

Documented variations in the isotopic compositions of some chemical elements are responsible for expanded uncertainties in the standard atomic weights published by the Commission on Atomic Weights and Isotopic Abundances of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. This report summarizes reported variations in the isotopic compositions of 20...

Spatial analysis with a GIS was used to evaluate geothermal systems in Nevada using digital maps of geology, heat flow, young faults, young volcanism, depth to groundwater, groundwater geochemistry, earthquakes, and gravity. High-temperature (>160??C) extensional geothermal systems are preferentially associated with northeast-striking late Pleistocene and younger faults, caused by crustal...

The variation of concentration and composition of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in stream waters cannot be explained solely on the basis of soil processes in contributing subcatchments. To investigate in‐stream processes that control DOC, we injected DOC‐enriched water into a reach of the Snake River (Summit County, Colorado) that has...

Documented variations in the isotopic compositions of some chemical elements are responsible for expanded uncertainties in the standard atomic weights published by the Commission on Atomic Weights and Isotopic Abundances of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. This report summarizes reported variations in the isotopic compositions of 20...

Acid drainage from historic mining activities has affected the water quality and aquatic biota of Soda Butte Creek upstream of Yellowstone National Park. Numerous investigations focusing on metals contamination have been conducted in the Soda Butte Creek basin, but interpretations of how metals contamination is currently impacting Soda Butte Creek...

Since the construction of Dillon Reservoir, in Summit County, Colorado, in 1963, its drainage area has been the site of rapid urban development and the continued influence of historical mining. In an effort to assess changes in water quality within the drainage area, sediment cores were collected from Dillon Reservoir...

The U.S. Geological Survey operates a quality-assurance program based on the analyses of reference samples for two laboratories: the National Water Quality Laboratory and the Quality of Water Service Unit. Reference samples that contain selected inorganic, nutrient, and low-level constituents are prepared and submitted to the laboratory as disguised routine...

We report on the first deployment of satellite transmitters in large alcids. In 1995 and 1996, we surgically implanted 51 transmitters in Common and Thick-billed murres (Uria aalge and U. lomvia) and Tufted Puffins (Fratercula cirrhata) at three colonies in Alaska. These devices furnished more than 2,900 locations over succeeding...

The effects of lithologic changes on the water quality of the Kuskokwim River, Alaska, were evaluated by the U.S. Geological Survey in June 1997. Water, suspended sediments, and bed sediments were sampled from the Kusko-kwim River and from three tributaries, the Holitna River, Red Devil Creek, and Crooked Creek. Dissolved...

The inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometric (ICP-MS) methods have been expanded to include the determination of dissolved arsenic, boron, lithium, selenium, strontium, thallium, and vanadium in filtered, acidified natural water. Method detection limits for these elements are now 10 to 200 times lower than by former U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) methods,...

Thirty eight K-Ar and eight 40Ar/39Ar high-precision age determinations were made at the US Geological Survey, Menlo Park, on a total of 22 rocks from the entire volcanic field. Duplicate or triplicate determinations were carried out on 14 samples in order to improve analytical precision. All ages were measured on...