Background values of gold, potentially toxic elements and emerging high-tech critical elements in surface water collected in a remote northern European environment
Posted on 2018-02-22 - 13:54
A geochemical surfacewater survey, focused on 2nd and 3rd order streams, was carried out in the Oppdal/Berkåk area in Norway. Stream water was collected at 168 sample sites, covering a 1500-km2 survey area. Electrical conductivity, pH, alkalinity and temperature were recorded in the field. Electrical conductivity and pH were also determined once more in the laboratory. The cations Br, Cl, F, NO2, NO3, PO4 and SO4 were determined by ion-chromatography (IC) on unacidified, laboratory filtered samples. Inductively coupled plasma quadrupole mass spectrometry (ICP-QMS) was used to analyse field filtered and acidified samples for 63 elements. In addition, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICPAES) was used to determine 27 elements. One aim of the survey was to test whether today's ICP-QMS analyses are sensitive enough to directly use surface water efficiently for gold prospecting. The two known gold occurrences in the area are marked by low level Au anomalies in stream water (0.006 µg/l). These values are just above the detection limit of 0.001 µg/l and it must be concluded that today's detection limits are still not low enough to use stream water for routine Au (and In) prospecting. The anions as determined by IC were most problematic in terms of number of samples below detection limit. Increased anthropogenic activities in the lowlands are marked by slightly enhanced NO3 values in the streams. An As, Mo, Sb, V anomaly marks the main skiing area near Oppdal but is probably geogenic. In general surface water geochemistry of, for example, Ca, Ce, Cu, K, La, Rb, SO4 and Sr reflects the geology of the area well. Methodological tests indicate that it should be sufficient to take unfiltered samples in the field and to filter and acidify these in the evening at home base. The dataset provides a good overview of background concentrations and variation of almost 70 chemical elements in stream water from a remote northern European survey area.
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Reimann, Clemens; Birke, Manfred; Flem, Belinda; Eggen, Ola A.; Gasser, Deta (2018). Background values of gold, potentially toxic elements and emerging high-tech critical elements in surface water collected in a remote northern European environment. Geological Society of London. Collection. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4012885.v1
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AUTHORS (5)
CR
Clemens Reimann
MB
Manfred Birke
BF
Belinda Flem
OE
Ola A. Eggen
DG
Deta Gasser
CATEGORIES
KEYWORDS
ICP-QMSdetection limitsurface water geochemistryuse surface watergeochemical surfacewater survey168 sample sitesPOElectrical conductivity70 chemical elementsEuropean survey areaV anomaly marksICPAESstream waterplasma quadrupole mass spectrometryIC3 rd order streams1500- km 2 survey areause stream waterGeology