Geology Reports⌕ Search

SEARCH · Geology Reports

Results for “Chemistry”

Search indexed USGS publications on groundwater, aquifers, geologic maps, mineral resources and earthquakes. Explore source records by subject and place.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Fire, flood, and drought: Extreme climate events alter flow paths and stream chemistry

Extreme climate events—such as hurricanes, droughts, extreme precipitation, and wildfires—have the potential to alter watershed processes and stream response. Yet due to the destructive and hazardous nature and unpredictability of such events, capturing their hydrochemical signal is challenging. A 5‐year postwildfire study of stream chemistry in the Fourmile Creek watershed, Colorado Front Range, USA, focused on high‐frequency storm sampling. During the study, the watershed was impacted by three additional extreme climate events—drought and two periods of extreme rainfall totals. These events altered concentration‐discharge relationships in ways that elucidate how hydrologic flow paths and source material availability affect stream water chemistry. Reduced infiltration after wildfire led to overland flow during thunderstorms, which conveyed ash and soil into streams. This resulted in elevated stream concentrations of constituents elevated in ash—Ca, K, Mg, alkalinity, and dissolved organic carbon—along with sediment and nitrate. Subsurface flow paths were bypassed, leading to low concentrations of Na and SiO 2 , which are bedrock derived and not elevated in ash. During drought conditions, when stream discharge was <20% of average, concentrations of sediment, dissolved organic carbon, and Ca fell below average concentrations, but SiO 2 did not. Extreme rainfall totals saturated the subsurface and led to prolonged elevated stream discharge. Concentration‐discharge relationships for bedrock‐derived constituents, such as Ca and SiO 2 , were altered in that time period, while those for dissolved organic carbon were not. Previous disturbances, including historical mining, also affect stream chemistry, and water‐quality impairment can be exacerbated by extreme climate events.

Colorado↗

Impact of pore fluid chemistry on fine-grained sediment fabric and compressibility

Fines, defined here as grains or particles, less than 75 μm in diameter, exist nearly ubiquitously in natural sediment, even those classified as coarse. Macroscopic sediment properties, such as compressibility, which relates applied effective stress to the resulting sediment deformation, depend on the fabric of fines. Unlike coarse grains, fines have sizes and masses small enough to be more strongly influenced by electrical interparticle forces than by gravity. These electrical forces acting through pore fluids are influenced by pore fluid chemistry changes. Macroscopic property dependence on pore fluid chemistry must be accounted for in sediment studies involving subsurface flow and sediment stability analyses, as well as in engineered flow situations such as groundwater pollutant remediation, hydrocarbon migration, or other energy resource extraction applications. This study demonstrates how the liquid limit‐based electrical sensitivity index can be used to predict sediment compressibility changes due to pore fluid chemistry changes. Laboratory tests of electrical sensitivity, sedimentation, and compressibility illustrate mechanisms linking microscale and macroscale processes for selected pure, end‐member fines. A specific application considered here is methane extraction via depressurization of gas hydrate‐bearing sediment, which causes a dramatic pore water salinity drop concurrent with sediment being compressed by the imposed effective stress increase.

Journal of Geophysical Research↗

Wetlands, groundwater and seasonality influence the spatial distribution of stream chemistry in a low-relief catchment

Evaluating stream water chemistry patterns provides insight into catchment ecosystem and hydrologic processes. Spatially distributed patterns and controls of stream solutes are well-established for high-relief catchments where solute flow paths align with surface topography. However, the controls on solute patterns are poorly constrained for low-relief catchments where hydrogeologic heterogeneities and river corridor features, like wetlands, may influence water and solute transport. Here, we provide a data set of solute patterns from 58 synoptic surveys across 28 sites and over 32 months in a low-relief wetland-rich catchment to determine the major surface and subsurface controls along with wetland influence across the catchment. In this low-relief catchment, the expected wetland storage, processing, and transport of solutes is only apparent in solute patterns of the smallest subcatchments. Meanwhile, downstream seasonal and wetland influence on observed chemistry can be masked by large groundwater contributions to the main stream channel. These findings highlight the importance of incorporating variable groundwater contributions into catchment-scale studies for low-relief catchments, and that understanding the overall influence of wetlands on stream chemistry requires sampling across various spatial and temporal scales. Therefore, in low-relief wetland-rich catchments, given the mosaic of above and below ground controls on stream solutes, modeling efforts may need to include both surface and subsurface hydrological data and processes.

Michigan↗

Transient hydrogeological controls on the chemistry of a seepage lake

A solute mass balance method was used to estimate groundwater inflow and outflow rates for Nevins Lake, Michigan, a seepage lake in the upper peninsula that historically has shown extremely variable water chemistry compared with most other seepage lakes. A 4-year study (1989–1992) of the hydrology and geochemistry of Nevins Lake and its contiguous groundwater system revealed that changes in the mass of dissolved solutes are the result of annual hydraulic gradient reversals. A pronounced acidification of Nevins Lake from 1986 to 1988 was likely caused by drought-induced diminished groundwater inflow rates. In this study, dissolved calcium (the major cation in water of Nevins Lake, groundwater, and precipitation) was used for estimating mass flow rates. During the 1989–1992 period, Nevins Lake showed a reproducible annual cycle in calcium mass. Immediately following spring snowmelt and the resulting hydraulic gradient reversal, the mass of dissolved calcium in the lake increases rapidly, and then it decreases steadily throughout the summer and early fall, at which time the lake becomes hydraulically mounded and receives no groundwater inflow. Groundwater flow rates estimated by the solute mass balance method are sensitive to assumed solute concentrations in discharging groundwater. Pore water samples from the lake bed are shown to be more representative of water discharging to the lake than are samples from piezometers near the lake shore, but spatial and temporal variability in pore water chemistry must be considered. Stable isotope analyses ( 18 O and 2 H) of lake water, groundwater, and pore water samples show that water discharging to Nevins Lake in the spring is entirely recycled lake water, and no groundwater derived from terrestrial recharge reaches the lake. The conceptual model formulated during this study linking lake chemistry and the contiguous groundwater system and general groundwater flow patterns surrounding highly transient lake systems are likely transferable to other similar systems.

Michigan↗

Matching watershed and otolith chemistry to establish natal origin of an endangered desert lake sucker

Stream habitat restoration and supplemental stocking of hatchery-reared fish have increasingly become key components of recovery plans for imperiled freshwater fish; however, determining when to discontinue stocking efforts, prioritizing restoration areas, and evaluating restoration success present a conservation challenge. In this study, we demonstrate that otolith microchemistry is an effective tool for establishing natal origin of the June Sucker Chasmistes liorus , an imperiled potamodromous fish. This approach allows us to determine whether a fish is of wild or hatchery origin in order to assess whether habitat restoration enhances recruitment and to further identify areas of critical habitat. Our specific objectives were to (1) quantify and characterize chemical variation among three main spawning tributaries; (2) understand the relationship between otolith microchemistry and tributary chemistry; and (3) develop and validate a classification model to identify stream origin using otolith microchemistry data. We quantified molar ratios of Sr:Ca, Ba:Ca, and Mg:Ca for water and otolith chemistry from three main tributaries to Utah Lake, Utah, during the summer of 2013. Water chemistry (log e transformed Sr:Ca, Ba:Ca, and Mg:Ca ratios) differed significantly across all three spawning tributaries. We determined that Ba:Ca and Sr:Ca ratios were the most important variables driving our classification models, and we observed a strong linear relationship between water and otolith values for Sr:Ca and Ba:Ca but not for Mg:Ca. Classification models derived from otolith element : Ca signatures accurately sorted individuals to their experimental tributary of origin (classification tree: 89% accuracy; random forest model: 91% accuracy) and determined wild versus hatchery origin with 100% accuracy. Overall, this study aids in evaluating the effectiveness of restoration, tracking progress toward recovery, and prioritizing future restoration plans for fishes of conservation concern. Our results have further application, such as identifying subpopulations that provide the greatest reproductive contribution to a metapopulation or finding the reproductive area and origin of invasive fishes.

Utah↗

Influence of changing water sources and mineral chemistry on the everglades ecosystem

Human influences during the previous century increased mineral inputs to the Florida Everglades by changing the sources and chemistry of surface inflows. Biogeochemical responses to this enrichment include changes in the availability of key limiting nutrients such as P, the potential for increased turnover of nutrient pools due to accelerated plant decomposition, and increased rates of mercury methylation associated with sulfate enrichment. Mineral enrichment has also been linked to the loss of sensitive macrophyte species, although dominant Everglades species appear tolerant of a broad range of mineral chemistry. Shifts in periphyton community composition and function provide an especially sensitive indicator of mineral enrichment. Understanding the influence of mineral chemistry on Everglades processes and biota may improve predictions of ecosystem responses to ongoing hydrologic restoration efforts and provide guidelines for protecting remaining mineral-poor areas of this peatland.

Florida↗

Using a BACI design to assess stream ecology and chemistry response after wildfire

Wildfires can have complex effects on aquatic communities, which can be either beneficial or adverse depending on the setting. In California, USA, the size, frequency, and severity of wildfires has greatly increased over the last few decades. Understanding the effects of fire on aquatic ecosystem health and human land use has become increasingly important in managing the interface of the natural and urban landscape. In this study, we used a before–after control–impact (BACI) study design to test for differences in bed sediment chemistry, water chemistry, benthic algal biomass, and benthic macroinvertebrate communities between burned and unburned (control) watersheds, pre- and post-fire, using data collected before and after California’s 2017 Atlas, Nuns, and Tubbs wildfires. We found a treatment effect (burned vs control) on water chemistry, sediment trace-metal concentrations, algae, and community structure of benthic macroinvertebrates, but we found no evidence of an interaction between time period (pre- vs post-fire) and treatment. Both the difference in environmental factors between our control and burned sample sites and the proximity and degree of wildfire burn severity may have contributed to the results of this BACI study. Our results also highlight the importance of including control sites when assessing the effects of discrete disturbances, such as wildfire, to avoid spurious conclusions of disturbance effects that may be attributable to innate ecological variability.

Freshwater Science↗

Variability of isotope and major ion chemistry in the Allequash Basin, Wisconsin

As part of ongoing research conducted at one of the U.S. Geological Survey's Water, Energy, and Biogeochem-ical Budgets sites, work was undertaken to describe the spatial and temporal variability of stream and ground water isotopic composition and cation chemistry in the Trout Lake watershed, to relate the variability to the watershed flow system, and to identify the linkages of geochemical evolution and source of water in the watershed. The results are based on periodic sampling of sites at two scales along Allequash Creek, a small headwater stream in northern Wisconsin. Based on this sampling, there are distinct water isotopic and geochemical differences observed at a smaller hillslope scale and the larger Allequash Creek scale. The variability was larger than expected for this simple watershed, and is likely to be seen in more complex basins. Based on evidence from multiple isotopes and stream chemistry, the flow system arises from three main source waters (terrestrial-, lake-, or wetland-derived recharge) that can be identified along any flowpath using water isotopes together with geochemical characteristics such as iron concentrations. The ground water chemistry demonstrates considerable spatial variability that depends mainly on the flow-path length and water mobility through the aquifer. Calcium concentrations increase with increasing flowpath length, whereas strontium isotope ratios increase with increasing extent of stagnation in either the unsaturated or saturated zones as waters move from source to sink. The flowpath distribution we identify provides important constraints on the calibration of ground water flow models such as that undertaken by Pint et al. (this issue).

Wisconsin↗

Estimating natural background groundwater chemistry, Questa molybdenum mine, New Mexico

This 2 1/2 day field trip will present an overview of a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) project whose objective was to estimate pre-mining groundwater chemistry at the Questa molybdenum mine, New Mexico. Because of intense debate among stakeholders regarding pre-mining groundwater chemistry standards, the New Mexico Environment Department and Chevron Mining Inc. (formerly Molycorp) agreed that the USGS should determine pre-mining groundwater quality at the site. In 2001, the USGS began a 5-year, multidisciplinary investigation to estimate pre-mining groundwater chemistry utilizing a detailed assessment of a proximal natural analog site and applied an interdisciplinary approach to infer pre-mining conditions. The trip will include a surface tour of the Questa mine and key locations in the erosion scar areas and along the Red River. The trip will provide participants with a detailed understanding of geochemical processes that influence pre-mining environmental baselines in mineralized areas and estimation techniques for determining pre-mining baseline conditions.

New Mexico↗

Probabilistic relationships between acid-base chemistry and fish assemblages in streams of the western Adirondack Mountains, New York, USA

Surface waters across much of the Adirondacks of New York were acidified in the late 20th century but began to recover after the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act. Little data, however, were available to characterize biological impacts and predict recovery of fish assemblages in regional streams. Quantitative fish and chemistry surveys were completed in 47 headwater streams during summer 2014-16 to develop logistic (probabilistic) models that characterize the status of contemporary fish assemblages and predict how different N and S deposition loads may affect future fish assemblages. Models for Ali and richness ≥1 species, ANC and total density >400 fish/0.1 ha, ANC and total biomass >1500 g/0.1, presence of Brook Trout, trout density >200 fish/0.1 ha, and trout biomass >1000 g/0.1 ha were suitable for evaluating community and population responses to changes in acid-base chemistry. Anticipated changes in national (US) secondary standards for atmospheric emissions of NOx and SOx to achieve target N and S deposition loads will alter acid-base chemistry and the probabilities for observing various levels of fish metrics in streams across the region and elsewhere.

New York↗

Stream sediment geochemistry in mineral exploration: A review of fine-fraction, clay-fraction, bulk leach gold, heavy mineral concentrate and indicator mineral chemistry

Stream sediment surveys support early-stage reconnaissance mineral exploration and regional assessment programmes, enhanced by recent improvements in analytical method detection limits, continuously improving mineral chemistry, and new approaches to the interpretation of geochemical data. Sediment surveys may be used to predict catchment basin lithology, mineralization type based on pathfinder geochemistry, and geological features based on indicator mineral chemistry. Sediment surveys that target a finer-fraction sediment sample led to the discovery of the La Colosa gold deposit, Colombia. The Batu Hijau porphyry Cu–Au deposit in Indonesia was discovered based on an anomalous clay-sized fraction sample 12 km downstream. In an arid region with poorly developed drainages and minor topographic relief, the Ag-base-metal Navidad District in Argentina was discovered with clay-fraction sediment geochemistry. Heavy mineral concentrate (HMC) sediment surveys that include mineral chemistry determinations have led to global diamond discoveries. HMC surveys contributed to discovery of the Ring of Fire Ni–Cu–PGE and chromite district, Ontario, Canada. Discoveries and geochemical mapping can assist advancement of the application of stream sediment geochemistry in those global areas for which lithologies and deposits are exposed. Stream sediment surveys continue to be one of the most cost-effective geochemical methods for covering large areas for mineral exploration.

Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis↗

Comparison of select hematology and serum chemistry analtyes between wild-caught and aquarium-housed lake sturgeon ( Acipenser fulvescens )

Hematology and serum chemistry analytes were compared between wild-caught and aquarium-housed lake sturgeon ( Acipenser fulvescens ) to potentially improve understanding of medical issues in lake sturgeon. Blood samples were taken from 30 lake sturgeon exhibited in 11 institutions in the United States and from 23 experimentally stocked lake sturgeon caught in gill nets in the lower Genesee River in Rochester, New York, USA. For hematology, only segmented neutrophil count was significantly different, with wild-caught fish having a higher number of circulating neutrophils. For clinical chemistry analytes, chloride, uric acid, calcium, phosphate, glucose, aspartate aminotransferase, triglycerides, and creatine kinase were significantly different between the two cohorts. These differences are likely not clinically significant and are attributable to handling stress, variability in environmental parameters, or differences in nutritional status. This is the first report of hematology and serum chemistry values in aquarium-housed lake sturgeon and provides useful reference intervals for clinicians.

New York↗

Soil calcium status and the response of stream chemistry to changing acidic deposition rates

Despite a decreasing trend in acidic deposition rates over the past two to three decades, acidified surface waters in the northeastern United States have shown minimal changes. Depletion of soil Ca pools has been suggested as a cause, although changes in soil Ca pools have not been directly related to long-term records of stream chemistry. To investigate this problem, a comprehensive watershed study was conducted in the Neversink River Basin, in the Catskill Mountains of New York, during 1991–1996. Spatial variations of atmospheric deposition, soil chemistry, and stream chemistry were evaluated over an elevation range of 817–1234 m to determine whether these factors exhibited elevational patterns. An increase in atmospheric deposition of SO 4 with increasing elevation corresponded with upslope decreases of exchangeable soil base concentrations and acid-neutralizing capacity of stream water. Exchangeable base concentrations in homogeneous soil incubated within the soil profile for one year also decreased with increasing elevation. An elevational gradient in precipitation was not observed, and effects of a temperature gradient on soil properties were not detected. Laboratory leaching experiments with soils from this watershed showed that (1) concentrations of Ca in leachate increased as the concentrations of acid anions in added solution increased, and (2) the slope of this relationship was positively correlated with base saturation. Field and laboratory soil analyses are consistent with the interpretation that decreasing trends in acid-neutralizing capacity in stream water in the Neversink Basin, dating back to 1984, are the result of decreases in soil base saturation caused by acidic deposition.

Ecological Applications↗

Diel variations in iron chemistry in an acidic stream in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, USA

In the Snake River, an acidic mountain stream in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, the concentration of dissolved iron is apparently unrelated to seasonal changes in hydrologic regime, which strongly influence the concentrations of most other dissolved constituents. Hourly sampling indicated that short-term fluctuations in iron chemistry occur, whereas the concentrations of most other dissolved constituents, including other trace metals, remain stable. During the day, greater concentrations of dissolved total and ferrous iron generally occurred during periods of full sunlight. Photoreduction of hydrous iron oxides, which are abundant in the fine sediment and as coatings on the rocks, may be responsible for these observations. Iron chemistry also varied at night, decreasing in dissolved total and ferrous iron until about midnight and increasing until dawn. Oxidation of ferrous iron, and several microbial processes, may contribute to these nighttime changes. In an on-site batch experiment using rocks and streamwater, an increase in dissolved total and ferrous iron occurred on exposure to sunlight, and ferrous oxidation occurred on return to darkness. Short-term fluctuations in iron chemistry are consistent with the lack of correlation between iron and other constituents in the long-term data, and illustrate the potential importance of complex in-stream processes in such stream systems.

Colorado↗

Blood chemistry and hematocrit of captive and wild canvasbacks

Blood chemistry and packed cell volume (PCV) did not vary among groups of captive canvasbacks ( Aythya valisineria ) maintained ad libitum on 5 diets varying in metabolizable energy (ME) and protein. Ducks fed low quality diets increased their consumption so that all ducks were obtaining similar amounts of energy and protein. Some variables, including cholesterol, were found to differ between the sexes and ages of captive ducks. Seasonal differences were detected in the blood chemistry of captive canvasbacks. Four of the 5 enzyme values increased from October to January and then declined to April. PCV increased from 45 in October to 51 in April. Overall, blood chemistry values and PCV's were highly variable and did not appear to be good discriminators for age, sex, and diet of captive canvasbacks. Differences detected between captive and wild canvasbacks were attributed to increased stress of wild ducks during handling.

Journal of Wildlife Management↗

Diagenesis and interstitial-water chemistry at the Peruvian continental margin; major constituents and strontium isotopes

Two distinct hydrogeochemical regimes currently dominate the Peruvian continental margin. One, in shallower water (150-450 m) shelf to upper-slope regions, is characterized by interstitial waters with strong positive chloride gradients with depth. The maximum measured value of 1043 mM chloride at Site 680 at ITS corresponds to a degree of seawater evaporation of ~2 times. Major ion chemistry and strontioum isotopic composition of the interstitial waters suggest that a subsurface brine that has a marine origin and is of pre-early Miocene "age," profoundly influences the chemistry and diagenesis of this shelf environment. Site 684 at ~9°S must be closest to the source of this brine, which becomes diluted with seawater and/or interstitial water as it flows southward toward Site 686 at ~13°S (and probably beyond) at a rate of approximately 3 to 4 cm/yr, since early Miocene time. The other regime, in deep water (3000-5000 m) middle to lower-slope regions, is characterized by interstitial waters with steep negative and nonsteady-state chloride gradients with depth. The minimum measured value of 454 mM chloride, at Site 683 at ITS, corresponds to —20% dilution of seawater chloride The most probably sources of these low-chloride fluids are gas hydrate dissociation and mineral (particularly clay) dehydration reactions. Fluid advection is consistent with (1) the extent of dilution shown in the chloride profiles, (2) the striking nonsteady-state depth profiles of chlorides at Sites 683 and 688 and of 87Sr/86Sr ratios at Site 685, and (3) the temperatures resulting from an average geothermal gradient of 50°C/km and required for clay mineral dehydration reactions. Strontium isotope data reveal two separate fluid regimes in this slope region: a more northerly one at Sites 683 and 685 that is influenced by fluids with a radiogenic continental strontium signature, and a southerly one at Sites 682 and 688 that is influenced by fluids with a nonradiogenic oceanic signatures. Stratigraphically controlled fluid migration seems to prevail in this margin. Because of its special tectonic setting, Site 679 at ITS is geochemically distinct. The interstitial waters are characterized by seawater chloride concentrations to —200 mbsf and deeper by a significantly lower chloride concentration of about two-thirds of the value in seawater, suggesting mixing with a meteoric water source. Regardless of the hydrogeochemical regime, the chemistry and isotopic compositions of the interstitial waters at all sites are markedly modified by diagenesis, particularly by calcite and dolomite crystallization.

Peruvian Continental Margin↗

Ground- and surface-water chemistry of Handcart Gulch, Park County, Colorado, 2003-2006

As part of a multidisciplinary project to determine the processes that control ground-water chemistry and flow in mineralized alpine environments, ground- and surface-water samples from Handcart Gulch, Colorado were collected for analysis of inorganic solutes and water and dissolved sulfate stable isotopes in selected samples. The primary aim of this study was to document variations in ground-water chemistry in Handcart Gulch and to identify changes in water chemistry along the receiving stream of Handcart Gulch. Water analyses are reported for ground-water samples collected from 12 wells in Handcart Gulch, Colorado. Samples were collected between August 2003 and October 2005. Water analyses for surface-water samples are reported for 50 samples collected from Handcart Gulch and its inflows during a low-flow tracer injection on August 6, 2003. In addition, water analyses are reported for three other Handcart Gulch stream samples collected in September 2005 and March 2006. Reported analyses include field parameters (pH, specific conductance, temperature, dissolved oxygen, and Eh), major and trace constituents, oxygen and hydrogen isotopic composition of water and oxygen and sulfur isotopic composition of dissolved sulfate. Ground-water samples from this study are Ca-SO4 type and range in pH from 2.5 to 6.8. Most of the samples (75 percent) have pH values between 3.3 and 4.3. Surface water samples are also Ca-SO4 type and have a narrower range in pH (2.7?4.0). Ground- and surface-water samples vary from relatively dilute (specific conductance of 68 ?S/cm) to concentrated (specific conductance of 2,000 ?S/cm).

Colorado↗

User's Guide to Handlens - A Computer Program that Calculates the Chemistry of Minerals in Mixtures

HandLens is a computer program, written in Excel macro language, that calculates the chemistry of minerals in mineral mixtures (for example, in rocks, soils and sediments) for related samples from inputs of quantitative mineralogy and chemistry. For best results, the related samples should contain minerals having the same chemical compositions; that is, the samples should differ only in the proportions of minerals present. This manual describes how to use the program, discusses the theory behind its operation, and presents test results of the program's accuracy. Required input for HandLens includes quantitative mineralogical data, obtained, for example, by RockJock analysis of X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, and quantitative chemical data, obtained, for example, by X-ray florescence (XRF) analysis of the same samples. Other quantitative data, such as sample depth, temperature, surface area, also can be entered. The minerals present in the samples are selected from a list, and the program is started. The results of the calculation include: (1) a table of linear coefficients of determination (r2's) which relate pairs of input data (for example, Si versus quartz weight percents); (2) a utility for plotting all input data, either as pairs of variables, or as sums of up to eight variables; (3) a table that presents the calculated chemical formulae for minerals in the samples; (4) a table that lists the calculated concentrations of major, minor, and trace elements in the various minerals; and (5) a table that presents chemical formulae for the minerals that have been corrected for possible systematic errors in the mineralogical and/or chemical analyses. In addition, the program contains a method for testing the assumption of constant chemistry of the minerals within a sample set.

Open-File Report↗