Data from the Chemical Analysis of Archived Stream-Sediment Samples, Alaska

This data release contains the elemental concentration data for more than 1700 archived stream-sediment samples collected in Alaska. Samples were retrieved from the USGS Mineral Program's sample archive in Denver, CO, and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Geologic Materials Center in Anchorage, AK. All samples were analyzed using a multi-element analytical method involving fusion of the sample by sodium peroxide, dissolution of the fusion cake by nitric acid, and elemental analysis by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS). Additionally, 106 samples from the Nixon Fork area were analyzed by a second multi-element method in which the samples are decomposed by a mixture of hydrochloric, nitric, perchloric, and hydrofluoric acids and the elemental composition is determined by ICP-OES and ICP-MS. New Hg (mercury) concentrations, determined by cold-vapor atomic absorption spectrometry, are reported for 296 samples from southeast Alaska.