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Data Supporting The Geochemical Atlas of Alaska, 2016

Metadata Updated: September 15, 2025

A rich legacy of geochemical data produced since the early 1960s covers the great expanse of Alaska; careful treatment of such data may provide significant and revealing geochemical maps that may be used for landscape geochemistry, mineral resource exploration, and geoenvironmental investigations over large areas. To maximize the spatial density and extent of data coverage for statewide mapping of element distributions, we compiled and integrated analyses of more than 175,000 sediment and soil samples from three major, separate sources: the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Uranium Resource Evaluation program, and the Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys geochemical databases. Various types of heterogeneity and deficiencies in these data presented major challenges to our development of coherently integrated datasets for modeling and mapping of element distributions. Researchers from many different organizations and disparate scientific studies collected samples that were analyzed using highly variable methods throughout a time period of more than 50 years, during which many changes in analytical techniques were developed and applied. Despite these challenges, the U.S. Geological Survey has produced a new systematically integrated compilation of sediment and soil geochemical data with an average sample site density of approximately 1 locality per 10 square kilometers (km2) for the entire State of Alaska, although density varies considerably among different areas. From that compilation, we have modeled and mapped the distributions of 68 elements, thus creating an updated geochemical atlas for the State.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date September 13, 2025
Metadata Updated Date September 15, 2025

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date September 13, 2025
Metadata Updated Date September 15, 2025
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/usgs-571e2412e4b071321fe5653f
Data Last Modified 2020-09-29T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id faa03ecc-5a75-4bd5-935d-9a4c89b757d5
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial 179.6546, 50.1834, -129.9939, 71.6
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 4b179ce5edc8f5610efcb1e19f4bbbce34fac7d8cd863e536dd358b7ad402672
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": 179.6546, 50.1834, 179.6546, 71.6, -129.9939, 71.6, -129.9939, 50.1834, 179.6546, 50.1834}

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