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Geochemical summary statistics for 59 elements in rocks, soils, stream sediments, mine tailings, and native and cultivated plants are given for 25 study areas having important deposits of coal or oil shale. Each study area is briefly described as to location, study objectives, and kind of material sampled, and references are given to published reports of the study. The concentrations of elements in the sampling media are given for suites of samples as summary data that include detection ratios, means, deviations, laboratory error, and observed ranges of concentration. Studies of certain elements in soils that exist in forms available to plants were conducted using several extraction procedures, and element concentrations as well as other parameters of the extracts were determined. The concentrations of as many as 40 elements were determined in samples of surface waters, in addition to the gross alpha and beta counts, and measurements of alkalinity, dissolved solids, hardness, pH, sodiumadsorption ratios, and specific conductance of these samples. The mineralogy is summarized for outcrop samples of shale and sandstone; of core samples of fine-grained rocks, sandstone, siltstone plus shale, and dark shale; of stream sediments; and of soils used in extraction studies. This report emphasizes changes in the geochemical environment that have accompanied coal mining in arid regions and suggests, through estimates of background element abundances, the geochemical effects to be expected in areas not yet mined. The elements in plants that grow on mine spoil and reclaimed soil of mined areas indicate that care should be taken to insure proper utilization of these areas. INTRODUCTION The necessity of increasing domestic energy production in the United States led to greater exploitation of fossil fuels in the 1970's, particularly in some of the Western States. In such exploitation, a wide range of environmental effects was inevitable, and studies of the known or anticipated landscape changes that would attend mining operations were begun by many State and Federal agencies. One effect believed certain to follow these operations was an alteration of the geochemical environment in or near the disturbed areas. Data on the geochemical regimes that existed before disturbances occurred at the mining sites that is, background geochemistry are important for identifying and evaluating the changes that occur during mining and landscape restoration. During the last two decades the U.S. Geological Survey has investigated landscape geochemistry in order to estimate natural background concentrations of elements in rocks, soils, and plants. Some studies were "large-scale" or national, such as one in which the concentrations of a large number of chemical elements were determined in surficial materials over the United States that were but little altered from their natural condition (Shacklette and others, 1970). Other geochemical investigations concerned particular areas of the country. One concerted study was made of the State of Missouri, in which the background geochemistry of rocks, soils, plants, and waters was determined (Miesch, 1976; Tidball, 1976; Erdman and others, 1976a and 1976b; Feder, 1979; Connor and Ebens, 1980 and Ebens and Conner, 1980). Tourtelot (1973) studied soil geochemistry of the Front Range Urban Corridor, Colo. Other studies were centered on small areas exhibiting geochemically related environmental problems, or were of cultivated soils and plants considered to be normal if not natural (Shacklette and others, 1970; Connor and others, 1971; Ebens and others, 1973; and Erdman and others, 1976b). Data from these studies, insofar as they represented natural or normal geochemical environments, were summarized in a geochemical compilation of landscape units of the conterminous United States (Connor and Shacklette, 1975). Geochemical summaries were published for fruits and vegetables and their associated soils from 11 areas of commercial production in the United States (Shacklette, 1980). l GEOCHEMISTRY IN THE WESTERN ENERGY REGION OF THE CONTERMINOUS UNITED STATES By building on these baseline studies and the experience in sampling and data analysis gained in their accomplishment, studies that concentrated on the geochemistry of the western energy regions were begun in 1973. These studies focused on areas where surface or underground mines for coal and oil shale were scheduled or were likely, as well as on the geochemical effects on the environment of existing coal mines and coal-fired plants that generated electricity. The investigations in areas where mining had not yet begun were essentially regional background studies that included the geochemistry of rocks and soils likely to be disturbed during mining and of native plants, stream sediments, and surface waters. Studies conducted around existing mines and power plants were more restricted in area; they investigated the effects on the geochemistry of soils, native plants, and surface waters by land-surface disturbances, stack emissions, fly ash, and mine spoil. Reclaimed land that consisted largely of spoil material was examined to identify changes in the element content of native plants and cultivated crops, and to measure the availability of chemical elements in the soil that might lead to levels of accumulation by plants that would affect the health of both plants and the animals that eat the plants. Details of these studies were described in a series of limited-distribution annual progress reports (U.S. Geological Survey, 1974a, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978) and in many journal and conference publications. Although these studies were in widely scattered areas and concerned many different kinds of materials, they were unified by some common characteristics: All studies followed well-defined sampling plans designed to clearly identify the sample populations and to reduce sampling bias. The samples were submitted in a randomized order that was unknown to the analysts and were analyzed in that order so that the effects of laboratory bias or analytical drift on interpretation of the data could be circumvented. The interpretation of results of all studies was based on rigorous statistical analysis of the chemical data. The present report gives, in summary form, the results of these studies of the Western Coal Region, which were conducted over a period of 7 years; it parallels in scope, format, and data presentation the earlier publication of geochemical summaries by Connor and Shacklette (1975). ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The accomplishment of the studies described in this report depended on the assistance and cooperation of many other persons and organizations. Permission to conduct studies on private property by land owners, mining and power plant companies, and tribal councils was essential and was greatly appreciated. The assistance of many State and Federal agencies in providing guidance and advice on field studies was also of great value. Within our own organization, the services of computer programmers, specialists in data handling, and assistants in the field, laboratory, and office were invaluable. Special acknowledgment and appreciation are extended to the chemists, spectrographers, and other laboratory personnel who catalogued and prepared the samples and measured element concentrations in the many kinds of materials collected in these studies. They are James W. Baker, P. R. Barnet, A. J. Bartel, B. L. Bolton, Leon A. Bradley, E. L. Brandt, P. H. Briggs, William Cary, J. G. Crock, Isabelle Davidson, J. J. Dickson, Andrew Drenicjc, C. M. Ellis, Jeffrey England, I. C. Frost, Johnnie M. Gardner, Carol Gent, Michele Goff, Patricia G. Guest, J. C. Hamilton, Thelma F. Harms, Raymond G. Havens, J. P. Hemming, Kathryn E. Horan, Claude Huffman, Jr., J. O. Johnson, R. J. Knite, Lorraine Lee, R. M. Lemert, Fred E. Lichte, M. J. Malcolm, J. C. McDade, C. McFee, R. E. McGregor, Violet M. Merritt, H. T. Millard, Jr., Wayne Mountjoy, Harriet G. Nieman, M. Panter, Clara S. E. Papp, Farris D. Perez, S. E. Prelipp, G. O. Riddle, Van E. Shaw, George D. Shipley, V. Smith, M. W. Solt, Arthur L. Sutton, Jr., James A. Thomas, Michele L. Tuttle, Richard E. Van Loenen, R. J. Vinnola, James S. Wahlberg, W. J. Walz, R. J. White, and Thomas L. Yager. METHODS OF STUDY OBJECTIVES The studies described in this report were planned to investigate the geochemical character of the rocks, soils, stream sediments, native plants, and surface waters at representative locations overlying major coal and oil shale resources of the northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountain Provinces, (figs. 1 and 4). By selecting areas for study in which coal mines were operating, or locations where future mining of coal or oil shale was probable, the current geochemical impact of these operations could be measured, and the probable effects of mining at new locations could be estimated. An objective that also influenced the selection of studies to be undertaken was estimation of geochemical baselines applicable to large areas in these provinces, as well as in contiguous provinces lying to the west (fig. 15), where changes in the geochemical environment attributable to energy resources develop-

u.s. geological survey professional papers/u.s. geological survey professional paper

Geochemistry of some rocks, mine spoils, stream sediments, soils, plants, and waters in the Western Energy Region of the conterminous United States, with sections on field studies