The National Geochemical Survey - database and documentation

The USGS, in collaboration with other federal and state government
agencies, industry, and academia, is conducting the National
Geochemical Survey (NGS) to produce a body of geochemical data for
the United States based primarily on stream sediments, analyzed
using a consistent set of methods. These data will compose a
complete, national-scale geochemical coverage of the US, and will
enable construction of geochemical maps, refine estimates of
baseline concentrations of chemical elements in the sampled media,
and provide context for a wide variety of studies in the geological
and environmental sciences. The goal of the NGS is to analyze at
least one stream-sediment sample in every 289 km2 area by a single
set of analytical methods across the entire nation, with other solid
sample media substituted where necessary. The NGS incorporates
geochemical data from a variety of sources, including existing
analyses in USGS databases, reanalyses of samples in USGS archives,
and analyses of newly collected samples. At the present time, the
NGS includes data covering ~71% of the land area of the US,
including samples in all 50 states.
This version of the online report provides complete access to NGS
data, describes the history of the project, the methodology used,
and presents preliminary geochemical maps for all analyzed elements.
Future editions of this and other related reports will include the
results of analysis of variance studies, as well as interpretive
products related to the NGS data.
This database provides in digital form many geochemical analyses
reported by USGS in its published literature.