The distribution of selected trace elements in soils, Eureka mining district and Pinto Summit quadrangle, Nevada

The distribution of selected trace elements in soils, Eureka mining district and Pinto Summit quadrangle, Nevada By tourice A. ChaffeeThe accompanying two maps show soil-sample sites in the Eureka mining district and the Pinto Summit quadrangle, Nevada, respectively.Tables 1 and 2 are tabulations of analytical data for 14 elements.Site numbers in the tables correspond to the site numbers on the two maps.Sampling was done during June and July of 1971.The samples were collected below any obvious organic layer (A horizon) and as near as possible to visibly unaltered bedrock.Samples were sieved using stainless-steel screening in aluminum frames.A series of sized fractions was obtained from each soil sample.Each fraction was analyzed separately.The analytical values given here for arsenic, bismuth, molybdenum, and tungsten are those of the 1-2-mm fraction.Analytical values for the other elements are those of the minus 62.5-micron fraction.The 1-2-mm fraction was pulverized before analysis.The values for barium, bismuth, manganese, molybdenum, tin, and tungsten were obtained using a six-step semiquantitative spectrographic method of analysis.Arsenic and antimony were analyzed,colorimetrically.Values for the other elements were obtained using atomic absorption methods of analysis.Analysis was done partly in the field and partly in the U.S.Geological laboratories in Denver.