OFR09-02, Minnesota Soil, Till, and Ground-Water Geochemical Data

Abstract

The rocks and soils that are the foundation of our environment leave an imprint on the chemistry of our water and our lives. This chemical landscape reflects a combination of natural history and cumulative human impacts, and it influences biodiversity and human health. Geochemical mapping thus is needed to clarify elemental variations, and to support assessment of the natural and human-influenced factors that dictate these variations. The Minnesota Geological Survey (MGS) and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), in cooperation with the United States Geological Survey (USGS), therefore have assembled three geochemical data sets for soil and water as a basis for an atlas that will provide an overview of geochemical patterns, and a reference that will place more thorough environmental geochemical surveys into a context. Data contributed to the project were derived from soil, soil parent material, and well water samples analyzed following USGS, Geological Survey of Canada, and Environmental Protection Agency protocols, respectively. The soil data include stream sediments largely in the western part of the state, and the soil parent material data are from sites underlain by till. The well water samples were from multiple aquifers utilized for drinking water, at greatly varying depth and geology.