Publications

A base-wide assessment of surface-water quality at the U.S. Army Atterbury Reserve Forces Training Area near Edinburgh, Indiana, examined short-term and long-term quality of surface water flowing into, across, and out of a 33,760-acre study area. The 30-day geometric-mean concentrations of fecal-indicator bacteria (Escherichia coli) in water samples from all 16 monitoring sites on...

Summary -- This online publication portrays regional data for pH, alkalinity, and specific conductance for stream waters and a multi-element geochemical dataset for stream sediments collected in the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. A series of interpolation grid maps portray the chemistry of the stream waters and sediments...

No abstract available.

Within the Delaware River Basin, fish-tissue samples were analyzed for total mercury (tHg). Water and bed-sediment samples were analyzed for tHg and methylmercury (MeHg), and methylation efficiencies were calculated. This study was part of a National Mercury Pilot Program conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The Delaware River Basin was chosen because it is part of the USGS...

Geochemical analyses of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks in the western Brooks Range reveal a complex evolutionary history for strata surrounding the large Zn-Pb-Ag deposits of the Red Dog district. Data for major elements, trace elements, and rare earth elements (REE) were obtained on 220 samples of unaltered and unmineralized siliciclastic rocks from the Upper Devonian-Lower Mississippian...

This project examined and analyzed 560 fish representing eight species from 16 sites in the Columbia River Basin (CRB) from September 1997 to April 1998. Ten of the 16 sampling locations were historical National Contaminant Biomonitoring Program (NCBP) sites where organochlorine and elemental contaminants in fish had been monitored from 1969 through 1986. Five sites were co-located at U...

Clays represent one of the largest mineral commodities in the world in terms of mineral and rock production and use. Many people, however, do not recognize that clays are used in an amazingly wide variety of applications. Use continues to increase worldwide as populations and their associated needs increase. Robert Virta, clay and shale commodity specialist for the U.S. Geological Survey...

From paint to airplanes, titanium is important in a number of applications. Commercial production comes from titanium-bearing ilmenite, rutile and leucoxene (altered ilmenite). These minerals are used to produce titanium dioxide pigment, as well as an assortment of metal and chemical products.

The earliest known use of gypsum as a building material was in Anatolia (in what is now Turkey) around 6000 B.C. It has been found on the interiors of the great pyramids in Egypt, which were erected in about 3700 B.C. Now an average new American home contains more than 7 metric tons of gypsum in the form of more than 6,000 square feet of wallboard.

The United States is a major producer and consumer of refined lead, representing almost one quarter of total world production and consumption. Two mines in Alaska and six in Missouri accounted for 97 percent of domestic lead production in 2002. The United States also imports enough refined lead to satisfy almost 20 percent of domestic consumption. Other major producers or consumers of...

Part of the 2003 industrial minerals review. Supply and demand data for industrial diamond are provided. Topics discussed are consumption, prices, imports and exports, government stockpiles, and the outlook for 2004.

Seven companies mined fire clay in four states during 2003. From 1984 to 1992, production declined to 383 kt (422,000 st) from a high of 1.04 Mt (1.14 million st) as markets for clay-based refractories declined. Since 1992, production levels have been erratic, ranging from 383 kt (422,000 st) in 1992 and 2001 to 583 kt (642,000 st) in 1995. Production in 2003, based on preliminary data...