Prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Occurrence and Variability of Mining-Related Lead and Zinc in the Spring River Flood Plain and Tributary Flood Plains, Cherokee County, Kansas, 2009–11 Scientific Investigations Report 2013–5028 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Cover. Chat piles (mine tailings) in the Tar Creek Basin, Cherokee County, Kansas (photograph by Eric Looper, U.S. Geological Survey). Occurrence and Variability of Mining- Related Lead and Zinc in the Spring River Flood Plain and Tributary Flood Plains, Cherokee County, Kansas, 2009–11 By Kyle E. Juracek Prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Scientific Investigations Report 2013–5028 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior KEN SALAZAR, Secretary U.S. Geological Survey Suzette M. Kimball, Acting Director U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2013 For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment, visit http://www.usgs.gov or call 1–888–ASK–USGS. For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, visit http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod To order this and other USGS information products, visit http://store.usgs.gov Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also may contain copyrighted materials as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items must be secured from the copyright owner. Suggested citation: Juracek, K.E., 2013, Occurrence and variability of mining-related lead and zinc in the Spring River flood plain and tributary flood plains, Cherokee County, Kansas, 2009–11: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2013–5028, 70 p. iii Contents Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................................vi Abstract ...........................................................................................................................................................1 Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................1 Previous Investigations........................................................................................................................3 Purpose and Scope ..............................................................................................................................5 Description of the Spring River Basin ...............................................................................................5 Methods...........................................................................................................................................................5 Flood-Plain Surficial-Soil Sampling and Analysis ...........................................................................5 Site Selection ...............................................................................................................................5 Sample Collection and Preparation ..........................................................................................6 Chemical Analyses ......................................................................................................................6 Particle-Size Analysis ...............................................................................................................10 Flood-Plain Coring and Analysis ......................................................................................................10 Site Selection .............................................................................................................................10 Core Collection and Preparation .............................................................................................11 Chemical Analysis......................................................................................................................11 Quality Control ..............................................................................................................................................11 Samples Collected from the Spring River Flood Plain ..................................................................11 Samples Collected from the Tributary Flood Plains ......................................................................14 Sediment-Quality Guidelines......................................................................................................................15 Background Information for Trace Elements ..........................................................................................16 Flood-Plain Occurrence of Mining-Related Lead and Zinc ..................................................................16 Spring River..........................................................................................................................................17 Brush Creek .........................................................................................................................................17 Cow Creek ............................................................................................................................................17 Shawnee Creek ...................................................................................................................................17 Shoal Creek ..........................................................................................................................................17 Short Creek ..........................................................................................................................................21 Spring Branch......................................................................................................................................21 Tar Creek ..............................................................................................................................................22 Turkey Creek ........................................................................................................................................22 Willow Creek........................................................................................................................................23 Variability of Lead and Zinc Concentrations in Relation to Mining Activity and Other Factors ......23 Source Effects .....................................................................................................................................23 Downstream Effects ...........................................................................................................................26 Distance-from-Channel Effects ........................................................................................................30 Particle-Size Effects ...........................................................................................................................32 Summary and Conclusions .........................................................................................................................32 References Cited..........................................................................................................................................33 Appendixes ...................................................................................................................................................37 iv Figures 1. Map showing location of the Spring River system, the Cherokee County superfund site, and lead- and zinc-mined areas in the Tri-State Mining District, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma ...............................................................................................2 2. Maps showing location of surficial-soil sampling sites and coring sites in the Spring River flood plain and tributary flood plains, Cherokee County, Kansas ..................7 3. Map showing lead concentrations in surficial-soil samples collected from the Spring River flood plain and tributary flood plains, Cherokee County, Kansas, 2009, 2011 .....................................................................................................................................18 4. Map showing zinc concentrations in surficial-soil samples collected from the Spring River flood plain and tributary flood plains, Cherokee County, Kansas, 2009, 2011 .....................................................................................................................................20 5. Graph showing variability of flood-plain zinc concentrations with distance from the Spring River along transects T1 through T6 ....................................................................30 Tables 1. Chemical analyses performed on surficial-soil and core samples from the Spring River flood plain and tributary flood plains, Cherokee County, Kansas, 2009–11 ............10 2. Cadmium, lead, and zinc concentrations for three surficial-soil samples collected from the Spring River flood plain and six surficial-soil samples collected from the tributary flood plains, Cherokee County, Kansas, and analyzed by x-ray fluorescence and spectroscopic methods .............................................................................13 3. Sediment-quality