LaDonna Choate
Science and Products
Salmon River Mountains Legacy Mining Studies
The objective of this study is to characterize the regional impact of legacy mining in the context of framework geology for the Salmon Mountains in central Idaho. This objective is addressed through three interrelated tasks: 1) framework geology, 2) watershed biogeochemical processes, and 3) characterization of trace metals in colloids (fine particles suspended in water).
Sources, Forms, Extractability of Metals in Non-Ore Deposit Sources
This project explored potential recovery and environmental consequences of metals in mining and mineral processing wastes as a function of ore deposit geology, and in debris from demolished or burned buildings.
Geochemical analyses of bauxite and associated rocks from the Arkansas bauxite region, central Arkansas
This data release compiles major and trace element analytical results of samples of bauxite (aluminum ore) and associated rocks collected from the Arkansas bauxite region, located near the center of Arkansas in Pulaski and Saline Counties. Samples were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in April 2018 as part of the USGS' focus on increased understanding of the United State
Assessment of the geoavailability of trace elements from selected zinc minerals
This assessment focused on five zinc-bearing minerals. The minerals were subjected to a number of analyses including quantitative X-ray diffraction, optical microscopy, leaching tests, and bioaccessibility and toxicity studies. Like a previous comprehensive assessment of five copper-bearing minerals, the purpose of this assessment was to obtain...
Driscoll, Rhonda L.; Hageman, Phillip L.; Benzel, William M.; Diehl, Sharon F.; Morman, Suzette; Choate, LaDonna M.; Lowers, Heather
Geospatial database for regional environmental assessment of central Colorado.
In conjunction with the future planning needs of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted a detailed environmental assessment of the effects of historical mining on Forest Service lands in central Colorado. Stream sediment, macroinvertebrate, and various filtered and unfiltered water quality samples...
Church, Stan E.; San Juan, Carma A.; Fey, David L.; Schmidt, Travis S.; Klein, Terry L.; DeWitt, Ed H.; Wanty, Richard B.; Verplanck, Philip L.; Mitchell, Katharine A.; Adams, Monique G.; Choate, LaDonna M.; Todorov, Todor I.; Rockwell, Barnaby W.; McEachron, Luke; Anthony, Michael W.
Assessment of the geoavailability of trace elements from minerals in mine wastes: analytical techniques and assessment of selected copper minerals
In this study, four randomly selected copper-bearing minerals were examined—azurite, malachite, bornite, and chalcopyrite. The objectives were to examine and enumerate the crystalline and chemical properties of each of the minerals, to determine which, if any, of the Cu-bearing minerals might adversely affect systems biota, and to provide a...
Driscoll, Rhonda; Hageman, Phillip L.; Benzel, William M.; Diehl, Sharon F.; Adams, David T.; Morman, Suzette; Choate, LaDonna M.
Acid neutralizing capacity and leachate results for igneous rocks, with associated carbon contents of derived soils, Animas River AML site, Silverton, Colorado
Mine planning efforts have historically overlooked the possible acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) that local igneous rocks can provide to help neutralize acidmine drainage. As a result, limestone has been traditionally hauled to mine sites for use in neutralizing acid drainage. Local igneous rocks, when used as part of mine life-cycle planning and...
Yager, Douglas B.; Stanton, Mark R.; Choate, LaDonna M.; Burchell
Geochemical data from analyses of rock, sediment, water, and solid-phase leaching at the Tuba City Open Dump, Tuba City, Arizona
This report releases data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey from the Tuba City Open Dump area from January 2008 to September 2008 with cooperation from the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Navajo and Hopi Tribes. These data were collected in support of investigations into the possible sources and resulting transport of radionuclides and...
Johnson, Raymond H.; Otton, James K.; Horton, Robert J.; Gallegos, Tanya J.; Choate, LaDonna M.; Sullivan, Jonah E.
Determination of premining geochemical background and delineation of extent of sediment contamination in Blue Creek downstream from Midnite Mine, Stevens County, Washington
Geochemical and radionuclide studies of sediment recovered from eight core sites in the Blue Creek flood plain and Blue Creek delta downstream in Lake Roosevelt provided a stratigraphic geochemical record of the contamination from uranium mining at the Midnite Mine. Sediment recovered from cores in a wetland immediately downstream from the mine...
Church, Stan E.; Kirschner, Frederick E.; Choate, LaDonna M.; Lamothe, Paul J.; Budahn, James R.; Brown, Zoe Ann Predicting toxic effects of copper on aquatic biota in mineralized areas by using the Biotic Ligand Model
The chemical speciation of metals influences their biological effects. The Biotic Ligand Model (BLM) is a computational approach to predict chemical speciation and acute toxicological effects of metals on aquatic biota. Recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency incorporated the BLM into their regulatory water-quality criteria for copper....
Smith, Kathleen S.; Ranville, James F.; Adams, M.; Choate, LaDonna M.; Church, Stan E.; Fey, David L.; Wanty, Richard B.; Crock, James G. Integrating bioavailability approaches into waste rock evaluations
The presence of toxic metals in soils affected by mining, industry, agriculture and urbanization, presents problems to human health, the establishment and maintenance of plant and animal habitats, and the rehabilitation of affected areas. A key to managing these problems is predicting the fraction of metal in a given soil that will be biologically...
Ranville, James F.; Blumenstein, E. P.; Adams, M.J.; Choate, LaDonna M.; Smith, Kathleen S.; Wildeman, Thomas R. Geochemical assessment of metals and dioxin in sediment from the San Carlos Reservoir and the Gila, San Carlos, and San Francisco Rivers, Arizona
In October 2004, we sampled stream-bed sediment, terrace sediment, and sediment from the San Carlos Reservoir to determine the spatial and chronological variation of six potentially toxic metals-Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, As, and Hg. Water levels in the San Carlos Reservoir were at a 20-year low at an elevation of 2,409 ft (734.3 m). Four cores were taken...
Church, Stan E.; Choate, LaDonna M.; Marot, Marci E.; Fey, David L.; Adams, Monique; Briggs, Paul H.; Brown, Zoe Ann Using enzyme bioassays as a rapid screen for metal toxicity
Mine tailings piles and abandoned mine soils are often contaminated by a suite of toxic metals, which were released in the mining process. Traditionally, toxicity of such areas has been determined by numerous chemical methods including the Toxicity Characteristic Leachate Procedure (TCLP) and traditional toxicity tests using organisms such as the...
Choate, LaDonna M.; Ross, P.E.; Blumenstein, E. P.; Ranville, James F.