Introduction into the environment of elements (such as arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury) which have a deleterious effect on living organisms when found naturally in only minor amounts (concentrations less than 1.0 milligram per liter) in water or sediment.
Arsenic is a naturally occurring element in rocks, soils, and the waters in contact with them. It is found in ground water as the result of minerals dissolving from weathered rocks and soils. This site links to data, maps, and more.
Information on arsenic in United States ground water largely as a result of minerals dissolving from weathered rocks and soils. Includes links to publications, data, maps, and links to other sites with information on arsenic.
Explains the natural and human-affected factors that determine the concentration of contaminants in groundwater, especially where the concentration is different at the surface than at depth, and where pumping varies with time.
Maps and text (Word or PDF format) and database (Excel or HTML format) for bedrock, forest floor, and mineral soil sampling in Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota to establish the background and baseline geochemistry and terrestrial mercury sources.
Reviews how coal fires occur, how they can be detected by airborne and remote surveys, and, most importantly, the impact coal-fire emissions may have on the environment and human health, especially mercury, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and methane.
Collection of six short papers related to the mercury geochemical society, the study of mercury in coal, concentrations in sediment, soil, water, and fish collected near mercury and gold mines, and volanic emissions of mercury.