Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

This site is currently in beta, and your feedback is helping shape its ongoing development.

Geochemical reanalysis of rock and sediment samples from the Middle Fork and South Fork of the Salmon River collected in the mid-1960s through the early 1970s as part of the Idaho Primitive Area studies

Published by U.S. Geological Survey | Department of the Interior | Metadata Last Checked: January 27, 2026 | Last Modified: 2022-08-24T00:00:00Z
This data release is a geochemical data set from the reanalysis of 23 rock and 85 sediment samples collected between 1966 and 1970 by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for a series of studies investigating the mineral resources of the Idaho Primitive Area (Cater et al., 1973). The samples are from the upper Middle Fork Salmon River and the South Fork Salmon River, including the tributaries of East Fork of the South Fork and Porphyry Creek. The overall objective of this study is to characterize the regional impact of legacy mining for the Frank Church - River of No Return Wilderness Area. In 1980 the U. S. Congress passed the Central Idaho Wilderness Act which combined the Idaho Primitive Area, the Salmon Rivers Breaks Primitive Area, and other wilderness into the River of No Return Wilderness Area. Frank Church was added to the name in 1984 changing it to the Frank Church - River of No Return Wilderness with the signing of legislation in 1984 (USDA Forest Service, 2001). Stream sediment and rock samples collected for the USGS Idaho Primitive Area mineral resource assessment is summarized in Granitto and Lund (2020). The samples collected in 1966-1970 were analyzed using semiquantitative spectrographic methods for major and trace elements. Some samples were analyzed by wet chemical methods for cobalt while arsenic, copper, and heavy metals were analyzed for all sediments and some mineralized rocks. These methods did not produce data for the total element concentration of the sample. Samples containing large amounts of rare-earth elements were analyzed by quantitative emission spectrography. Samples were analyzed in several U.S. Geological Survey laboratories over a 4-year period using different analytical techniques. These techniques were modified and refined during this period (Cater et al., 1973). Consequently, not all the reported results summarized are directly comparable. A subset of the archived materials was reanalyzed using current standard methods for consistency allowing comparability for all elements. Analytical techniques used for the reanalyzed samples reported here include a 60-element analysis following a sodium peroxide fusion by either inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) or inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Arsenic was also determined using hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry (HGAAS) following a sodium peroxide fusion since the arsenic detection limit is 10 times lower for this technique. Thus, these new data for archived sediment and rocks from the Middle Fork and South Fork of the Salmon River are internally consistent and directly comparable. References cited above: Cater, F.W., Pickney, D.M, Hamilton, W.B, Parker, R.L., Weldin, R.D., Close, T.J., and Zilka, N.T., 1973, Mineral Resources of the Idaho Primitive Area and Vicinity, Idaho: Geological Survey Bulletin 1304, p. 445. USDA Forest Service, 2001, A User's Guide Frank Church - River of No Return Wilderness, Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, Salmon, Idaho, p. 39. Granitto, M., and Lund, K., 2020, Geochemical Data Release for Idaho Primitive Area, including the contiguous Clear Creek-Upper Big Deer Creek Area, the Salmon River Breaks Primitive Area, the Sawtooth Primitive Area, and adjacent areas, central Idaho: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9BT11RJ.

Find Related Datasets

Click any tag below to search for similar datasets

Alluvium Automatic Creek Beansnapper Creek Bear Creek Big Chief Creek Big Cottonwood Creek Cabin Creek Cache Creek Cane Creek Canyon Creek Carbonate rock Challis Magmatic Complex Challis Volcanic Group Clastic rock Colorado Colt Creek Conglomerate Cornish Creek Cultus Creek Dewey Mine East Fork Indian Creek East Fork South Fork Salmon River East Fork Springfield Creek East Fork Trail Creek Forty-five Creek Frank Church - River of No Return Wilderness Area GGGSC Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center Glass Mountain Gneiss Granite Granodiorite Gunsight Formation Idaho Idaho Primitive Area Indian Creek Little Indian Creek Little Loon Creek Little Pistol Creek Loon Creek Luger Creek MRP Marble Creek Mearney Creek Middle Fork Indian Creek Middle Fork Salmon River Middle Fork terraces Migmatite Mineral Resources Program Missouri Ridge Formation NGDB National Geochemical Database North Fork Porphyry Creek North Fork Wolf Fang Creek Phyllite Pistol Creek Poee Creek Porphyry Porphyry Creek Profile Creek Pungo Creek Rapid River Rhyolite Ryan Creek Salmon Rivers Breaks Primitive Area Sandstone Shrapnel Creek Silver Plume South Fork Salmon River South Fork Wolf Fang Creek Spring Creek Springfield Creek Sugar Creek Sunnyside tuff Tamarack Creek Thirty-two Creek Thunder Mountain Caldera Trail Creek Trigger Creek Tuff Twenty-five Creek USA USGS:61817ee5d34e9f2789e447df United States Unnamed Minor Tributary Unnamed Tributary Upper Middle Fork Salmon River Volcanic rock West Fork Little Loon Creek West Fork Trail Creek Wolf Fang Creek aluminum antimony arsenic atomic absorption analysis atomic emission spectroscopy barium beryllium biota biotite bismuth boron cadmium calcium cerium cesium chemical analysis chromium cobalt copper critical minerals dysprosium economic geology erbium europium foliation gadolinium gallium geochemical data geochemistry geology geoscientificInformation germanium hafnium holmium hornblende hornblende-biotite hydride generation igneous rocks indium iron lanthanum lapili tuff lead lithium lutetium magnesium manganese mass spectroscopy metallic mineral resources metamorphic rocks mineral deposits mineral resources mineralization molybdenum muscovite sulfides muscovite-biotite neodymium nickel niobium nonmetallic mineral resources pebble conglomerate phosphorus plutonic rocks potassium praseodymium quartz rare earth elements rhenium rock chemistry rock drainage rubidium samarium scandium sediment chemistry sedimentary rocks selenium silicon silver strontium sulfur tantalum tellurium terbium thallium thulium tin titanium tungsten uranium vanadium volcanic rocks ytterbium yttrium zinc zirconium

data.gov

An official website of the GSA's Technology Transformation Services

Looking for U.S. government information and services?
Visit USA.gov