pubs.usgs.gov Open in urlscan Pro
2001:49c8:c000:122d::78  Public Scan

Form analysis
0 forms found in the DOM

Text Content

Skip Links


USGS Home Contact USGS Search USGS

U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2010-1040

>> Pubs Warehouse > OF 2010-1040


ECOSYSTEM HEALTH IN MINERALIZED TERRANE—DATA FROM PODIFORM CHROMITE (CHINESE
CAMP MINING DISTRICT, CALIFORNIA), QUARTZ ALUNITE (CASTLE PEAK AND MASONIC
MINING DISTRICTS, NEVADA/CALIFORNIA), AND MO/CU PORPHYRY (BATTLE MOUNTAIN MINING
DISTRICT, NEVADA) DEPOSITS

BY STEVE W. BLECKER, LISA L. STILLINGS, MICHAEL C. AMACHER, JAMES A. IPPOLITO,
AND NICOLE M. DECRAPPEO


INTRODUCTION

The myriad definitions of soil/ecosystem quality or health are often driven by
ecosystem and management concerns, and they typically focus on the ability of
the soil to provide functions relating to biological productivity and/or
environmental quality. A variety of attempts have been made to create indices
that quantify the complexities of soil quality and provide a means of evaluating
the impact of various natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Though not without
their limitations, indices can improve our understanding of the controls behind
ecosystem processes and allow for the distillation of information to help link
scientific and management communities. In terrestrial systems, indices were
initially developed and modified for agroecosystems; however, the number of
studies implementing such indices in nonagricultural systems is growing. Soil
quality indices (SQIs) are typically composed of biological (and sometimes
physical and chemical) parameters that attempt to reduce the complexity of a
system into a metric of a soil’s ability to carry out one or more functions.

The indicators utilized in SQIs can be as varied as the studies themselves,
reflecting the complexity of the soil and ecosystems in which they function.
Regardless, effective soil quality indicators should correlate well with soil or
ecosystem processes, integrate those properties and processes, and be relevant
to management practices. Commonly applied biological indicators include measures
associated with soil microbial activity or function (for example, carbon and
nitrogen mineralization, respiration, microbial biomass, enzyme activity. Cost,
accessibility, ease of interpretation, and presence of existing data often
dictate indicator selection given the number of available measures. We employed
a large number of soil biological, chemical, and physical measures, along with
measures of vegetation cover, density, and productivity, in order to test the
utility and sensitivity of these measures within various mineralized terranes.
We were also interested in examining these relations in the context of
determining appropriate reference conditions with which to compare reclamation
efforts.

The purpose of this report is to present the data used to develop indices of
soil and ecosystem quality associated with mineralized terranes (areas enriched
in metal-bearing minerals), specifically podiform chromite, quartz alunite, and
Mo/Cu porphyry systems. Within each of these mineralized terranes, a nearby
unmineralized counterpart was chosen for comparison. The data consist of soil
biological, chemical, and physical parameters, along with vegetation
measurements for each of the sites described below. Synthesis of these data and
index development will be the subject of future publications.

First posted April 27, 2010

 * Report PDF (2.2 MB).
 * Appendix tables folder. These 18 tables give microbial, physical and
   chemical, DTPA extract, total and water extractable metals, vegetation
   production, and chemical data for Red Hills Podiform, Castle Peak and Masonic
   Quartz-Alunite, and Buckingham Mo/Cu Porphyry. The data are presented in
   .xls, .xlsx, .ods, .csv, and .txt formats (39 files; 1.3 MB total).

 * This report is available only on the Web.

For additional information:
Contact Information, Western Mineral Resources Science Center, Menlo Park Office
U.S. Geological Survey
C/O Mackay School of Earth Science and Engineering
MS - 176 University of Nevada, Reno Reno, NV 89557
http://minerals.usgs.gov/west/

Part of this report is presented in Portable Document Format (PDF); the latest
version of Adobe Reader or similar software is required to view it. Download the
latest version of Adobe Reader, free of charge.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


SUGGESTED CITATION:

Blecker, S.W., Stillings, L.L., Amacher, M.C., Ippolito, J.A., and DeCrappeo,
N.M. 2010, Ecosystem health in mineralized terrane; data from podiform chromite
(Chinese Camp mining district, California), quartz alunite (Castle Peak and
Masonic mining districts, Nevada/California), and Mo/Cu porphyry (Battle
Mountain mining district, Nevada) deposits. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File
Report 2010-1040, 38 p. and data tables.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


CONTENTS

Introduction

Study Areas

Sampling and Analyses

Results

Acknowledgments

References Cited

Appendix tables


Accessibility FOIA Privacy Policies and Notices

U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http:// pubs.usgs.gov /of/2010/1040/index.html
Page Contact Information: USGS Publications Team
Page Last Modified: Wednesday, 07-Dec-2016 22:29:29 EST