Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Major- and Trace-Element Concentrations in Soils from Two Geochemical Surveys (1972 and 2005) of the Denver, Colorado, Metropolitan Area

October 26, 2007

Introduction

This report contains major- and trace-element concentration data for soil samples collected in 1972 and 2005 from the Denver, Colorado, metropolitan area. A total of 405 sites were sampled in the 1972 study from an area approximately bounded by the suburbs of Golden, Thornton, Aurora, and Littleton to the west, north, east, and south, respectively. This data set included 34 duplicate samples collected in the immediate vicinity of the primary sample. In 2005, a total of 464 sites together with 34 duplicates were sampled from the same approximate localities sampled in 1972 as well as additional sites in east Aurora and the area surrounding the Rocky Mountain Arsenal. Sample density for both surveys was on the order of 1 site per square mile. At each site, sample material was collected from a depth of 0-5 inches. Each sample collected was analyzed for near-total major- and trace-element composition by the following methods: (1) inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) for aluminum, antimony, arsenic, barium, beryllium, bismuth, cadmium, calcium, cerium, cesium, chromium, cobalt, copper, gallium, indium, iron, lanthanum, lead, lithium, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, niobium, phosphorus, potassium, rubidium, scandium, silver, sodium, strontium, sulfur, tellurium, thallium, thorium, tin, titanium, tungsten, uranium, vanadium, yttrium, and zinc; and (2) hydride generation-atomic absorption spectrometry for selenium. The samples collected in 2005 were also analyzed by a cold vapor-atomic absorption method for mercury. This report makes available the analytical results of these studies.

Publication Year 2007
Title Major- and Trace-Element Concentrations in Soils from Two Geochemical Surveys (1972 and 2005) of the Denver, Colorado, Metropolitan Area
DOI 10.3133/ds299
Authors James E. Kilburn, David B. Smith, L. Graham Closs, Steven M. Smith
Publication Type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Series Title Data Series
Series Number 299
Index ID ds299
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization U.S. Geological Survey