Concentration Data for 12 Elements of Concern Used in the Development of Surrogate Models for Estimating Elemental Concentrations in Surface Water of Three Hydrologic Basins (Delaware River, Illinois River and Upper Colorado River)

Dates

Publication Date: 2022-10-18
Start Date: 1900-07-25
End Date: 2022-06-24

Citation

Marvin-DiPasquale, M.C., Sullivan, S.L., Platt, L. R., Gorsky, A., Agee, J.L., McCleskey, B.R., Kakouros, E., Walton-Day, K., Runkel, R. L., Morriss, M. C., Wakefield, B. F., and Bergamaschi, B., 2022, Concentration Data for 12 Elements of Concern Used in the Development of Surrogate Models for Estimating Elemental Concentrations in Surface Water of Three Hydrologic Basins (Delaware River, Illinois River and Upper Colorado River): U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9L06M3G.

Summary

The release of elements of concern (EoC) to surface water can involve both natural and anthropogenic sources. Elevated EoC concentrations can pose a risk to human health, wildlife, and ecosystem health, with the modes of toxicity and extent of risk varying as a function of the specific element, its chemical form and the matrix with which it is associated (for example, dissolved versus particulate). As part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Water Mission Area (WMA) Water Quality Processes Program, the Proxies (Surrogate) Project was created, in part, to develop models that can be used to estimate the concentration of EoC in riverine surface water at spatial scales ranging from (sub)basin to multi-basin. Three hydrologic basins were [...]

Summary

The release of elements of concern (EoC) to surface water can involve both natural and anthropogenic sources. Elevated EoC concentrations can pose a risk to human health, wildlife, and ecosystem health, with the modes of toxicity and extent of risk varying as a function of the specific element, its chemical form and the matrix with which it is associated (for example, dissolved versus particulate). As part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Water Mission Area (WMA) Water Quality Processes Program, the Proxies (Surrogate) Project was created, in part, to develop models that can be used to estimate the concentration of EoC in riverine surface water at spatial scales ranging from (sub)basin to multi-basin.

Three hydrologic basins were selected for EoC proxy model development; the Delaware River Basin (DRB), the Illinois River Basin (ILRB) and the Upper Colorado (UCOL) River Basin. These basins are part of the USGS network of integrated water science basins identified by the USGS WMA Integrated Water Availability Assessments (IWAAs) program (LINK) and the Next Generation Water Observing System (NGWOS) program (LINK).

Based on a survey of NGWOS basin coordinators and others familiar with these three hydrologic units, 12 EoC were identified as contaminants of concern and targeted for potential detailed modeling by the Proxies project. These 12 EoC include: seven transition metals (Cd, Cu, Cr, Fe, Hg, Mn, Zn), two post-transition metals (Al & Pb), one metelloid (As), one reactive non-metal: (Se), and one actinoid (U).

This data release contains surface water concentration data for the above 12 EoC and co-collected water quality parameter data (pH, temperature, specific conductance, turbidity, total suspended solids, and dissolved oxygen) from the DRB, ILRB and UCOL, as obtained from the Water Quality Portal (WQP, www.waterqualitydata.us/). With over 1,500,000 observations, the primary EoC database includes both historic and contemporary measurements (collected between 1900 and 2022) and among the three NGWOS basins.

The initial data retrieval results were screened to exclude any aqueous data that was not true surface water (groundwater, well water, sewer, and atmospheric measurements were excluded). A separate WQP data retrieval associated with additional sample location information was also conducted and merged with the initial EoC data retrieval results. The data was further harmonized (coded) for three water matrix fractions (filtered, particulate, and unfiltered), data source (USGS, EPA, and other), monitoring location type, analytical method, and the type of data censoring (if any). Elemental concentrations were also harmonized to common units, such that those associated with both the dissolved and whole water fractions are reported in micrograms per liter (µg/L) and those associated with the particulate fraction are reported on either a volumetric basis as µg/L or on a gravimetric basis as milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg), depending on the information retrieved. The various WQP data retrieval steps were automated using ‘R’ scripts (‘R’ version 4.1.0), as were all the subsequent data conversion, data merging, data harmonization, and file clean-up steps. This ‘R’ script is publicly available as a provisional software release (https://zenodo.org/record/6986087#.Y02Dh3bMJPb).

This product comprises six data files in machine readable (comma separated value, *.csv) format. The primary EoC data results, along with the additional sampling site information, are provided as three individual files organized by NGWOS basin, which include: EoC_DRB.csv, EoC_ILRB.csv, and EoC_UCOL.csv. Similarly, the co-collected discrete ancillary water quality data are provided as three individual files organized by NGWOS basin, and include: ancillary_DRB.csv, ancillary_ILRB.csv, and ancillary_UCOL.csv.

Contacts

Point of Contact :: Mark C Marvin-DiPasquale
Process Contact :: Samantha L Sullivan
Originator :: Mark C Marvin-DiPasquale, S L Sullivan, Lindsay R Platt, Adrianna Gorsky, Jennifer L Agee, R Blaine McCleskey, Evangelos Kakouros, Katie Walton-Day, Robert L Runkel, Matthew C Morriss, Brendan F Wakefield, Brian A Bergamaschi
Metadata Contact :: Jennifer L Agee
Distributor :: U.S. Geological Survey - ScienceBase
USGS Mission Area :: Water Resources
SDC Data Owner :: Office of the Chief Operating Officer

Attached Files

sorting

Metadata First

Recent First

Alphabetical

Click on title to download individual files attached to this item.

SB Metals_metadata_062723.xml Original FGDC Metadata	View	232.76 KB	application/fgdc+xml
ancillary_DRB.csv		183.28 MB	text/csv
ancillary_ILRB.csv		134.77 MB	text/csv
ancillary_UCOL.csv		149.23 MB	text/csv
EoC_DRB.csv		201.62 MB	text/csv
EoC_ILRB.csv		355.93 MB	text/csv
EoC_UCOL.csv		310.63 MB	text/csv
EofC_revision.txt		992 Bytes	text/plain

Purpose

This data release documents the primary EoC data, obtained from the WQP, to be used in the development of surface water models that estimate the concentration of a suite of EoC (Al, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Pb Se, U, and Zn) in three IWAAs/NGWOS hydrologic basins (DRB, ILRB, UCOL). This work was completed as part of the USGS Proxies Project, an effort supported by the WMA Water Quality Processes program to develop estimation methods for PFAS, harmful algal blooms, and EoC, at multiple spatial and temporal scales.

Concentration Data for 12 Elements of Concern Used in the Development of Surrogate Models for Estimating Elemental Concentrations in Surface Water of Three Hydrologic Basins (Delaware River, Illinois River and Upper Colorado River)

Dates

Citation

Summary

Summary

Contacts

Attached Files

sorting

Metadata First

Recent First

Alphabetical

Purpose

Map

Communities

Tags

Provenance

Additional Information

Identifiers

Item Actions

View Item as ...

Save Item as ...

View Item...

Dates

Citation

Summary

Summary

Contacts

Attached Files sorting Metadata First Recent First Alphabetical

Purpose

Map

Communities

Tags

Provenance

Additional Information

Identifiers

Item Actions

View Item as ...

Save Item as ...

View Item...

Attached Files

sorting

Metadata First

Recent First

Alphabetical