Description: The goal of the National Water Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA) is to determine within specific drainage basins both the character of water quality and the factors that effect that quality. Plans call for the program to be applied throughout the U.S. Initially, however, several pilot studies were established in diverse drainage basins to develop techniques for use in both groundwater and surface water studies. The Carson River Basin, Churchill and Lyon Counties, Nevada, is a pilot study area for groundwater. The Carson River originates on the east flank of the Sierra Nevada mountains and drains eastward to terminate in the Carson Sink. This report presents data from that study.
One of the objectives of the study is to investigate the relationship between water quality and the composition of the solid mineral material in contact with the water. A regional assessment of the geochemistry of surficial materials was obtained by soil samples. Subsurface assessment was obtained from drill core of shallow (at least to the depth of the water table) wells drilled specifically for this study.
Both groundwater and solid materials were sampled, but this report contains the analytical data only for the solid mineral materials that were collected. All analyses were performed in laboratories of the U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Division, Denver, CO.
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